One In A Million
by Annabelle Crane
Summary: Fi/Carey, Annie/Jack - Fi is back and she has her gift back too. I figure I have to keep up the tradition of changing the summary every time I upload a chapter. Still sad cause of lack of reviews :( To those who have reviewed a huge THANK YOU!!
1. Discovering The Fey

New Page 1 Disclaimer: I own only Raliana, Rhylinye and anyone else you don not normally see. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please! 

**One In A Million** - Chapter 1   
_by Annabelle_

She tossed and turned violently bed. Beads of sweet were forming on her forehead. If someone had walked into her room they would have thought that she was having a bad dream and woken her up. But what was going on her mind was so much more than a nightmare and no one was going to come to help her. She was alone and that was exactly what they wanted. 

'Fiona' 

'Fiona,' the voice of two people seemed to be calling out to her but at the same time they seemed to be inside her head. 

'Fiona. Listen to me. Listen to us,' the voices echoed in her head. 'Open your eyes Fiona. Look at us. Look at us!' 

Fiona forced her eyes opened to see that she had somehow ended up outside on a starless night near a lake. Mist was rising off the lake and floating all around her and no sounds came from the woods that surrounded her. Part of her was scared and her heart beat so quickly that she thought it was going to rip through her chest. Another part of her felt a strange kind of peace come over her like she had been to the land before. 

'Where I am?' Fiona thought as she started to walk around. Everything around her started to swerve and swirl around her, trees were 20 yards away from her one moment and then the next they were right by her side. 

'You are in Avalon child of humanity,' a male voice spoke that was full of mirth. 

'The land of the fey. Don't be scared,' a female voice added. 

"What I am doing here? Who are you?" Fiona called out to the air. 

'We are the children of Oberon and we have brought you here,' the voices spoke as one again. 

"Why? I thought it was forbidden for humans to set foot on Avalon," Fi turned around slowly to try to pin point where the voices were coming from. 

'You were right my ladyship, this child knows much about our people,' the male sounded like he was standing on her left. 

'Have I ever been wrong my dear Puck,' the female's voice echoed on her right. 

"Why have you brought me here," Fi cried out again. 

"Calm down child," Puck appeared before her now dressed in medieval type garb. He wore a purple tunic on top a red shirt with a gold belt. Blue leggings covered his lower half and red boots his feet. He also had gold wristbands, which were carved with intricate Celtic designs. "I am the trickster, the merry wander of the night, Robin Goodfellow, but most of all I am the Puck." 

Then a gorgeous female materialized next him. She was dressed in similar fashion to him, a deep blue free flowing dress with the same belt and wristbands, but her hair was a maroon color and her skin was almost a light turquoise. "This is the flower of Avalon, the beauty of the Fey, the daughter of most beloved King and Queen, the-" at this point the young woman, because she looked to be just about her friend Carey's age or a little older, hushed Puck by covering his mouth. 

"I am the Lady Rhylinye, heir to the throne of Oberon," her voice sounded like an exquisite melody. 

"I was just getting to that part," Puck pouted a little at her. "Besides you forgot one very important piece of information." 

"Yeah," Fi interrupted him, "The part where you tell me why I am here." 

"I am sorry child," Rhylinye's voice soothed Fi's nerves and she felt her heart beat slowed to a more normal pace. 

"That was not what I was talking about," Puck sounded highly offended. 

"What it is not like you said anything about it," Rhylinye laughed a little at him and then turned to Fi. "Come and sit with me child and I will give you all the answers that you seek." Rhylinye took her hand and guided her to a log that suddenly turned an elegant bench. 

For some reason Fi was not at all surprised by the magic bench. She knew that she was not dreaming but everything that was happening seemed so familiar to her and when Rhylinye held her hand she felt the peace that had originally fallen on her grow to an even more intense level. She had never felt so at ease as she did at that moment. 

"Look at you," Rhylinye said with a glowing smile once they were seated comfortably. "You are quite grown since last I saw you. You must almost be a woman now," Rhylinye reached out and stroked Fi's hair. 

"I am sixteen," Fiona wonder for a brief moment what her Ladyship had about seeing before now but the thought left as quickly as it entered her mind. 

"In the time of the Great King you would be married by now," Rhylinye let her flowery laughter grace the air again. "The time of Camelot is long past now. Those were our days of glory." A sad smile fell on her face. "But let's not talk of that for that is not the reason we have brought you here. Would you like to enlighten her or shall I." 

Puck was still sulking a bit and waved his hand in such a manner that Fi laughed him. Now normally the Puck did not take kindly to being made fun of but he knew how important the matters at hand were so he did nothing but glare at the girl for a moment. He then stuck his head a bit higher up in the air. 

Rhylinye ignored him and let the warmth of her demeanor wash over Fi again. "You are such a special girl Fiona," Rhylinye reached out to grab Fi's hand and held it with such care and love. "You have been since the day you were born. I am sure you have always felt that you were a little different from the others around you, maybe not your family, but your friends." 

Fiona nodded at her Ladyship's remark, "I have always had this uncanny knack for finding odd happenings. Being able to talk to spirits and things like that. Well I used until it became dangerous to my family. I gave my gift up, I closed my door to the spirit world." 

"Yes you did, but you didn't seal the door." 

"What do you mean," Fiona looked at Rhylinye with concern. She thought when the Will o' Wisp had convinced to give up her gift that her family would be safe from the spirit world and nothing would hurt them again. 

Rhylinye squeezed Fiona's hand gently, "Don't worry, your family is not in any danger at the moment. However that might change." 

"I don't understand. Will o' Wisp said that by giving up my power that my family and I would be save forever," Fiona's voice trembled a little. 

Puck punched a near by tree and the force of his rage made the tree split down the middle. Fi jumped back a little but Rhylinye did not flinch. "That little traitorous little spunkie. He would betray his own mother if the price was right, I swear it Lady." 

"Hush now Puck," Rhylinye threw him a look that either scared him so much that he decided to shut his mouth or calmed him into thinking rationally again. "The damage has been done and there is nothing we can do about that but we can undo the damage. We can help you understand your gift Fiona and help you understand why there are others from this world who want you to give it up." 

Fiona just nodded at what Rhylinye was saying because she did not understand. She had no idea what was going on and why any of this was happening. If there were those who did not want her to have the gift that she gave up then why was it so important for her to try and use her gift again. Why would she be more save with her gift then with out it? 

"Fiona, how much do you know about your father?" Rhylinye seemed to become cheerless when she asked the question. Her faced almost aged with the weight of her words. 

"I know that he loved my mother and would have given his life for his family. I know that he was a good man and a kind one. That he would never raise a hand against anyone without good cause," Fiona left the tears start to swell up in her eyes as she spoke. Her voice was uneven from straining to keep the tears back. 

Puck moved to stand behind Rhylinye and placed a hand on her shoulder. The Lady herself who was normally very controlled with her emotions started to have the most unsettling feeling. A feeling that she and the other fey only experienced very rarely. Rhylinye felt a huge sadness fall over her and she was not sure how to handle it. "Puck I cannot," Rhylinye choked on her words. 

"It is alright my Lady I shall continue," Puck looked at Fiona and started to speak. "Fiona there is no easy way to say this so I will just be blunt. Your father did die for you family," he paused as Fi gasped to hold back a sob. 

"Your father was the Lady's older brother. When Oberon called for the gathering your father refused to come. He did not want to leave the family that he had started. Oberon was furious with him. He told your father that we all had people that we had to leave behind, that was part of our lesson in humanity. But your father would not listen so Oberon sent his guards after him. Your father was the heir to the throne and it would have looked good for Oberon if he could not control his own son. 

"We were all so happy when your father returned. None of us knew of the trouble Oberon had gone through to get him back. Once he was back Oberon started to soften to him and would allow him to visit your family once a day. Rhylinye and I would sometimes journey between worlds to visit with you and your family as distant cousins, but we could never stay long because Oberon said that we had to be present as more of our brothers and sisters came home. 

"Then on the night of the first great feast of the gathering your father would not come back to Avalon. Oberon had to again send his guards out for him and when the brought him back he struggled. They had to put chains on him and he still would not calm down. Your father was brought into the dining hall screaming Oberon's name at the top of his lungs. He damned Oberon in front of everyone and spat at his feet. 

"Oberon had no choice, what your father did was an act of treason. So while his mother and sister wept your father was sentenced to a slow and painful death. The Lady Titania however did not just stand by and watch her son die. She managed to get Oberon to compromise in his punishment. Your father would be poisoned with iron but would be allowed to visit his family one last time before his body would become one with Avalon." 

Fiona turned away from both of them. She stood up and looked out the night as her body started to shake. She felt the tears come at full force but she did not try to stop them. Fi could not believe what was happening. After all this years of wondering and searching for answers she finally found out the truth. Her father had died because he wanted to be with his family and he was willing to give up everything for them. Then another emotion started to come over her and she felt heat rise in her body. Anger started to over power her and her hand involuntary made a fist. 

"Fiona," Rhylinye spoke softly as she placed a hand on Fi's shoulder. She knew that she was using her powers against Fi but it was the only way. If Fi decided to go up against Oberon everything would be lost. "Fi please look at me." 

She turned at looked at Rhylinye and Puck. Her faced tear stained and red, "He had no right!" 

"He had every right. What your father did was wrong. I am sorry Fiona, you don't understand the laws of Avalon because you were not raised here, but your father knew the laws, he lived and breathed them at one point in his life. He knew what would happen if he dishonored Oberon in front of the entire court of Avalon," Puck tried to explain but he knew that he was not helping her to understand. 

"Fiona, all children of Oberon are to obey him without question, it is the way it has been since before we can remember and it is the way it will be until the throne is passed on. Then we will all obey our new ruler," Rhylinye knew that Fi would not understand. She was not from a place were people respected their rulers above all else. "It is the only way to keep order here. Otherwise everyone would be running around using their powers to ruin humans' lives." 

Fi started to believe what they were saying then she remembered how many spirits and other creatures had caused her family problems over the years. "What about creatures like the Will O' Wisp? He has tormented me time and time again." 

"Oberon does not control all of the spirits of this world," Puck sighed. He had hoped that this process of talking with Fiona would only take a few minutes. Now she was asking questions and for explanations, throwing the whole structure of Avalon society, which had worked for generations, into question. "There is a Dark Lord and his subjects are the ones who cause you and others pain. Will O' Wisp was once one of Oberon's children, but he deflected to the Dark Lord. Oberon can do nothing because the wisp is under the Dark Lord's protection." 

"Fi the reason that Will O' Wisp wanted you to give up your powers is because he knew that you and your family are going to play a big part in the upcoming struggle between light and darkness," Rhylinye was starting to feel desperation crawl into her voice. "But he did not have you perform the spell that right way so your magic is leaking into the mortal realm like a bucket of water with a hole in it. Soon you and your brother will start to become dangerous to those around you." 

"What do you mean," Fi's eyes started to grow wide with fear. It was bad enough that she had gotten herself into another mess with the spirits but now Jack was being dragging into this mess as well. 

"Both you and your brother are part fey. You are not as powerful as a full child of Oberon but you very close to it," Puck tried to explain in more detail. "If you don't learn how to control your magic you will end up hurting others around you. The Will o' Wisp may have said and thought that he was helping you by using the spell that he did but because he didn't have you perform the spell correctly it caused more harm to you and your loved ones." 

"How . . . how do I fix this?" Fiona was still unbelievably confused by what was going on. She did not understand how something like this could be happening to her and her family. 

"You let us train you and then help us convince your brother that he needs training too," Rhylinye's tone was hopefully, believing that Fi had decided to listen to her fey relatives. 

Slowly Fi started to process what Rhylinye and Puck were saying. They had something about her family and the great struggle between light and darkness. What were they going to ask her to do if she agreed to let them help her? Would she be able to find another way to train her and her brother so that they would not end up hurting others? She walked away from the fey beings and tried to think more clearly. Then after a moment she spoke, "If I let you help my brother and me what would we have to do to repay you?" 

Puck and Rhylinye looked at each other. They knew that girl had caught on fast. "Well you will not be punished or treated any differently than anyone else on Avalon because of your father. Everyone deeply respected him and misses him so much. Oberon will not admit but he regrets everyday the decision he made." 

"You are withholding information," Fiona eyed them carefully. 

Rhylinye sighed, "We would like it if you and your brother would join our side when the battle of light and darkness comes. But in all reality we would help you either way. It is the least we can do for you family" 

"Okay how about we make some sort of deal?" Fi looked at both of them in the eye. 

"A deal?" Rhylinye wondered what kind of deal could be made. Either Fiona accepted their help or she did not. 

Fiona nodded her head as she slowly began to form the guild lines of the deal. "I will agree not to make any decision about my brother or I helping you until our training is complete and we have had time to meet the people of Avalon and gotten to know more about this place." 

"That sounds like something we can agree to," Puck looked at Rhylinye. 

Rhylinye did not nod her head or speak. Instead she threw her arms around Fi. "Thank you," she whispered in to Fi's ear. 

"So when does training begin?" Fi asked a little excited. She never had used magic before. The idea that she had magic inside her was thrilling to her. 

"Tomorrow afternoon, you are going to need to sleep once you go home tonight," Puck answered for them. 

"What about when I am in school," Fiona hoped that they were going to say that she would not have to go. "If I need sleep after this then I will not be able to do night sessions on school nights." 

"She is right Puck. We have to find a way to have her do both," Rhylinye thought for a moment. Fey were not gods, they did not have the ability to be in two places at once. They could fake it but it was really not possible in this case because Fi needed to keep up with her human studies. 

"We could have someone go in and pretend to be her," Puck suggested. 

"But then how would she get the benefit of her human education," Rhylinye replied. 

Fi smirked a little, "My human education is not that valuable." 

"Of course it is, it is part of your humanity," Rhylinye told her and Fi just shrugged. Thinking for another moment Rhylinye finally figured out a way for things to work out. "We will send Evintha in and have her disguise herself as Fi. Evintha will record what happened in school and then when she returns she can give Fi a summary of what happened. Eva loves human schools and she will be able to help you with your homework better than Puck or I could." 

"You mean I will still have to do homework?" Fi sighed. 

"Yes, it is part of your lesson in humanity," Rhylinye nodded firmly at Fi. Fi looked to Puck. 

"Hey I never liked school," Puck shook his head. 

"Okay, so how will we work tomorrow on my magic," Fi's voice showed how excited she was. 

"We will reach you much the same we did today. The first thing we will do is teach you how to make it seem like you are home in your room when you are really here learning how to use your magic," Rhylinye informed her. 

"Well then I guess I will see you tomorrow. There is just one more thing," Fi felt kind of silly about what she was going to say. 

"What is that child," Rhylinye smiled. 

"How do I get back home," Fi blushed a little as she spoke. 

"Just close your eyes, think of your room, and we will send you there. But only this once. After tomorrow you should be able to do it on your own," Puck winked at her. 

Fi nodded and closed her eyes, "Okay I am ready." Before she even finished speaking she felt her bed underneath her. She opened her eyes and looked around. "I really hope that wasn't a dream." 

Just then a bouquet of foreign looking flowers flew onto her bed. Fi picked them up and breathed in their sweet scent. She smiled to herself and got out of her bed to look for a vase. She was not really surprised to see one appear on her dresser and the fact that the water was already in it did not bother her either. She placed her flowers in the vase, crawled back into bed, and had first fully restful night of sleep she had in a long time. 

***** 

  


Jack woke with a start. At first he thought that something was wrong but then he realized that he just fallen asleep while his mother's tour bus was still moving. There had been some type of sudden movement and that what was had woke him up. Jack slowly rolled out of bed and stretched and yawned a little. Then he made his way out of the room that he shared with Carey into the community room of the bus. 

There on one of the bench like couches sat Annie. They used to call her the new girl on the bus but she had been living with them for about a year now. Annie was a just about his sister's age but a bit closer to him in age. She was typing on her tangerine colored laptop. Her fine blonde hair framed her face as she sat slightly bent over her work. 

His mom, Carey, and Carey's mom Irene were sitting at the stable-table playing a game of cards. His mom cheered a little as she won another hand. They smiled at him and asked him to join them. So he sat down at the table for the next round. 

"What happened to the bus?" Jack asked casually as he looked at his cards. 

"What do you mean honey?" Molly asked her son as she finished dealing out the rest of the cards. 

"I felt it jerk. That was what woke me up. Were we gonna hit a deer or something like that?" Jake was not very worried. Ned was driving the bus and he was very skilled at it. 

"Honey," Molly looked at her son with a little concern. "The bus did not jerk at all. We all were just saying how surprised we were by the smooth ride since it is snowing a little." 

"Hmm," Jack thought as he studied his cards more carefully. "I guess I was just having a bad dream then." 

"Are you sure you are okay man," Carey asked. It was not normally for Jack to wake up because of a bad dream or anything like that. Jack was usually a sound sleeper. 

"I am fine man," Jack said as he moved the cards around in his hand. As they were talking they had been playing and he and finally gotten the cards that he was looking for. "But I am afraid that I just broke mom's winning streak. Gin," he laid his cards down and every looked at him with amazement. 

"Sorry guys, I think I am going to do something a bit more challenging, like my math homework. See you guys later," Jake said as he stood up. 

"See you brain," Carey teased him. 

Jack settled down and began to start to try his math homework. He could not concentrate. Something was nagging him but he could not figure out what it was. He knew it had something to do with the dream that he was having but he could not remember what his dream was about. He only knew that had shaken him enough so that he woke up. He rubbed his temples slowly in an attempt to try to gain concentration again. Unfortunately it was not helping and whatever was bugging him only seemed to be getting worse. He could feel his skin start to clam up and his palms were starting to get sweaty. 

"Hey Jack," Annie popped her head into his room and Jack almost fell of his chair at the sound of her voice. 

"Jeez Annie!" Jack almost yelled at her as he tried to collect himself. "You know you could have knocked or something." 

"I did knock," Annie said slowly. "You didn't answer so I thought something was wrong. Are you okay?" 

"Yeah," Jack nodded his head and rubbed his hands together to try to get rid of the build up of sweat. "I am fine, you just startled me that's all. What's up?" 

Annie eyed him a little bit but decided to leave it alone for now. "Can I sit down?" 

Jack felt bad for a half a moment and then he realized she was teasing him. "I don't know Annie, can you?" 

"Whatever Jack. I coming in the room now and I am slowly going to move to Carey's desk and borrow his chair," Annie held up her hands as she creped into the room never turning her back to him. 

"Don't start Annie," Jack told her giving her a funny look. "I might decided not to help you out with your math homework this week." 

"Fine you win," Annie pouted a bit but then grabbed Carey's chair and moved it so she could sit near Jack. "So really Jack, what's up?" 

"Nothing Annie," he shook his head at her and she titled her had a little at him to single that she did not believe him. "I fine, don't worry." 

"Alright if you say so," Annie looked down at the ground for a second. "Hey have you heard from Fi lately?" She was hoping that changing the subject would put him more at ease. 

"No why?" Jack turned away to close up his books. He knew he wasn't going to get any homework done today. 

Annie played with her hair a bit and looked away from him, "Oh no reason. I was just wondering that's all." Annie knew that Jack was a little jealous of the fact that she and Fi were in more regular contact but the only reason things were like that it was because she needed Fi's help when weird things started to happen. 

"Annie," Jack gave her his warning tone. "You are holding back something." 

"Okay fine. Fi e-mailed me today and said that some really strange things were going on but she could not tell me about them right away and she wanted me to make sure that you were okay. She said that she would write more later," Annie spoke really fast because she nervous that Jack would be upset that Fi had e-mailed a message like that to her instead of him. 

"Well you can tell her I am fine," Jack smiled at Annie and then turned back to his books. Maybe he would be able to get some work done after all. If Fi said that strange things were happening to her it meant that she was happy and all would be right with the world. Well at least in Fi's mind it would be. 

"That's it?" Annie was totally baffled. "You aren't gonna get mad because Fi talked me instead of you?" 

Jack looked at her and thought for a moment. "Look Annie, I know that you and Fi are really good friends and I think it is great. It is nice for her to have someone to talk about the supposed ghosts and stuff like that. I mean you guys must not feel as crazy when you talk to each other." As he was finishing his sentence Annie started to hit him playfully. "Hey stop it Annie," he told her laughing a little. 

"I am crazy huh?" Annie didn't stop hitting him. "I'll show you crazy." Annie stopped hitting him and reached out toward his desk to try to get a hold of his homework folder. 

"Oh no you don't," Jack grabbed her hand and stood up quickly whipping her hand behind her as he moved to pull her out of chair. 

Annie lost her started to loose her balance when Jack forced her to stand up, "Jack stop! I'm gonna fall!" 

"Serves you right for trying to mess with my homework. I have been working for weeks on that paper and you were gonna mess the whole thing up," Jack laughed at her. "You know what I just got a great idea." 

"Jack Phillips, if you are thinking of doing what I think you are thinking of doing then you better stop thinking about it because I will not forgive you. I swear it," she tried to twist free of him. 

"Oh I am really scared," Jack laughed at her. Just then the bus did jerk forward a bit and Annie fell on top of him. She let out a small scream as she fell and the both grunted as the hit the floor. 

Carey had been walking back to his room when the bus jolted a bit and he heard Annie's scream. It only took him a moment to regain his balance and he almost bolted to the room. "Hey is everyone okay?" He asked in a worried tone as he came into the room. He took one look at the two figures on the floor and laughed and shook his head. "I just was coming back here to tell you guys that we reached the city that our gig is in and are about to pull into a motel for the night. Hey Annie if you want to stay in Jack's room it's cool with me," He kept laughing at them. 

"Carey that's not funny," Jack said in a serious tone as he helped her up. "Annie just lost her balance when the bus jerked." 

"And fell right on top of you," Carey laughed. "Now that is comedy. I would have liked to see how you guys managed to pull that one off, the bus didn't move that much." 

"Carey!" Annie was starting to blush a bit. 

Carey just kept laughing and left the room. Jack shook his head but then this awkward silence fell over the room. "Well I guess we should get our stuff together. Mom said that we were going to be here for a week or so." 

"Yeah. See you later Jack," Annie left the room without making eye contact with him and almost ran to her's. 

"Damn," Jack mumbled under his breath. It was so much easier to travel with Annie when he had been going out with Gabe. Now though things were different. "I just have to concentrate on my studies. I have that big history test this week. Big test," Jack kept mumbling as he packed his things up. 

In her own room Annie was having a similar conversation with herself. Except she kept asking herself how she could believe that Jack might be interested in her. That Jack saw her as a little sister and nothing else, that was the reason he was so protective of her. He had transferred his drive to protect his sister to her and that was why he was always trying to make sure that she was okay. Annie closed her suitcase with a forceful slam and then flopped down on her bed. What had she been thinking, she had just lost all reason for a moment. She convinced herself that she was just going to have to avoid being alone with Jack for the next few days and then everything would go back to the way it was. Annie closed her eyes and waited for the bus to pull into the motel. 

Author's Note: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes. 

Updates show up here faster: [ http://members.fortunecity.com/annabellefic/][1]

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	2. Magic Makes Life Happy

New Page 1 Disclaimer: I own only Raliana, Rhylinye, and anyone else you who haven't arleady seen. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please! 

**One In A Million** - Chapter 2: Magic Makes Life Happy   
__by Annabelle 

Annie looked around at the small motel room that was going to be home for the next few days. She sighed as she started to unpack her clothes into the mini-dresser that was starting to show wear and tear. As much as she loved being on the road with Molly and the band it was starting to get to her. Never having the same bed at night, except those rare days where they just kept driving and did not stop for a few days. Even then that really did not count because there was really no place for her to call home. Sure Hope Springs is where everyone else on the bus called home but Annie had not been living there long enough to think of it as home. 

Annie went over to the little round table that was in her room and set up her laptop. She plugged in the phone cord into the wall, pressed the on button, and waited to be connected to the net. As she waited she propped her head up with her hand and stared out the window looking at the snowfall gently on the ground. The motel manager had said that there was a big storm coming in tonight and it was going to stick around for a few days so they were lucky that they got to the motel when they did. She had been so mesmerized by the snow that she jumped a little when her laptop beeped at her to let her know that she had e-mail. 

The mail was from Fi asking if everyone was okay and to write back as soon as she could. Annie looked at the e-mail for a moment. This was the second e-mail that had been sent her today by Fi asking her if everything was going alright, something was defiantly up, but she could not figure out what is was. Annie wrote Fi back and asked her to tell if there was anything going on because she would help if she could. 

Just as Annie finished up the e-mail there was a knock on the door. Annie glanced out the window to see that it was Molly standing outside. She pressed the send button on her e-mail window and ran to the door to let Molly in. 

"Hey kiddo," Molly smiled as she took her coat off. "It is really coming down out there." 

"Yeah I know. Do you think that you are still going to be able to do your concert even though we are suppose to be snowed in?" Annie hoped that Molly would still perform. She loved to hear Molly sing and watch the practices. Sometimes Molly would let her practice her songs with the band and being on the stage made her so happy. She loved singing and performing for others. 

"I hope to sweetie, but if it gets too bad people might not come. That wouldn't be any good," Molly hung her coat up and sat on the one of the two beds to take her shoes off. "Oh, Ned says that he is going to cook for us in the bus and then bring the food up and the boys want you to join them in a snowball fight." 

"A snowball fight?" Annie looked at her strangely. 

"They are guys give them a break Annie," Molly laughed at her. 

"Okay whatever. I think I will stay here though," Annie said remember the incident on the bus earlier. "I have some work to do." 

Molly eyed her, "Come Annie you love being outside. You have been cooped up on the bus almost all day and now you don't want to go outside. What's up?" 

Annie smiled at her, "Nothing is wrong. I am just really behind in my schoolwork that's all. Mr. B is gonna fail me if I don't finish reading Taming of the Shrew by Tuesday." 

"I thought that you already read that book honey," Molly spoke from the little sink on the other side of the room where she was about to wash her hands. 

"Well yeah," Annie looked that the ground to think for a moment. "But I just wanted to review it one more time before I got my writing assignment for it." 

"Annie go outside and have fun," Molly spoke with seriousness in her voice. Annie gave her a like that said I-don't-wanna but Molly was not going to take no for an answer. "That's an order Annie. Now go get on your jacket, scarf, and gloves and go outside." 

Annie sulked for a moment and then sighed and put on her winter clothes and headed to the door, "I am going but I will not have fun." 

"Fine as long as you go," Molly told her not looking up from the book that she was reading. 

Annie opened the door and looked outside and then stepped out closing the door softly behind her. She stood there for a moment and watched the snow again. It was falling hard but it didn't make a sound as it covered the ground and the world around her turning everything white. 

"Hey Annie," Carey called up to her when he saw her come out to the walk way that went in front of all the rooms. "Don't stay up there all night. Come on down. Jack and I were just about to start without you." 

"Okay I'll be down in a second," Annie said waving down at them and headed for the stairwell that lead down to where the guys were waiting for her. 

"Carey, are you sure about this?" Jack asked a little worried. 

"Of course I am sure man," Carey said with an evil smile as he collected a huge snowball into his hand. "We stand at the landing and look like we are waiting for her. Then when she gets close enough we attack" 

"I think she is going to be mad," Jack's voice was cautious but he started to make a snowball in his hands. 

"Hey you guys. I am here," Annie said as she bounded down the stairs. As soon as she reached the last stair she was hit hard by two large snowballs. At first she just stood there for a moment in shock but then she realized what had happened. "Carey, Jack I am so going to get you," she warned them as she collected snow from the railing. 

"Oh yeah you and what army," Carey teased her and he reached down to get more snow. Jack followed suit because he knew this was not going to be any way out of this all parties were going to be held accountable. 

"My army," Annie replied rushing them and smashed the snowball on Carey's head and ran past them picking up snow along the way. 

"You are going to regret that Annie Thelen," Carey told her collecting more snow and adding to the lump that he already had. 

"I don't think so Carey Bell," Annie smiled wickedly at him and at Jack. "You know the one good thing about being smaller. You generally tend to move faster the others." She launched one snowball at Carey and then quickly aimed the other one at Jack. 

Jack used the snowball that he had in hand and threw at Carey and laughed at him. "Hey man, snowball fights are all about protecting your own," he shrugged as Carey glared at him. 

Before Carey had a chance to react Jack grabbed Annie's hand and ran with her to take shelter behind a car parked in the lot. He reached down and grabbed more snow. "Get ready to run again," He gave her a lopsided grin as she picked up some snow. They both knew that Carey wouldn't dare through snow at a car that didn't belong to someone he know but if the left him alone for to long he would make a stock pile of snowballs. 

"Ready," Annie asked him. Jack nodded. "Okay on three. One, two," and with that she used her snowball to smash into his hair and grad the one that he had in his hand. "It's everyone for themselves Jack, you said so yourself." Annie laughed and raced out from behind the car and used the other snowball to throw at Carey as she ran for more cover. 

Carey threw a snowball at her as she ran past him but he missed and did not realize that there was another person walking right behind where Annie had been standing. The snowball hit the young woman right in the shoulder. Both Jack and Annie watched what happened and came out from behind their hiding places as Carey started to apologize profusely to the girl he hit. "I am really sorry miss. I was trying to get my friend," Carey rushed up to her. "Are you okay?" 

The young woman laughed a little, "I am fine. You don't live in a place like this and not get used to being hit by stray snowballs. Just to warn you though the motel manager doesn't like to be hit. You might want to move your game to the field that is just a few yards behind the main building. There were kids playing there early today so there should still be some barriers up for you to hid behind." 

"Thanks so much," Carey smiled at her. "I am really sorry. We'll be more careful I promise." The woman nodded and left. 

"Okay who is gonna tell the parentals that we are going to the field," Carey looked from Annie to Jack who both looked back at him. "Come on you guys." 

"Well if you hadn't hit that lady we wouldn't have to move," Annie suggested. 

"She is right Carey," Jack nodded in agreement 

"Fine but if you to start stock piling while I am gone," Carey warned them as he left. "And I better not catch you two making out!" He shouted back at them. Annie blushed slightly at his last comment and Jack saw it. 

"Come on. The sooner we get there the sooner we can start planning out our revenge," Jack smiled at her. 

Annie just nodded. Revenge? Did the idea of kissing her seem so foreign to him that he would think that he had to defend his reputation when his friends teased him about her? 

Jack started to run towards the field and pulled her behind him. He was excited about this for some strange reason and he could not figure out why. It was not as if he had never had a snowball fight before or that it was the first one that he had with Annie. There was something different in the air and it was electrifying him causing him to feel elated and mischievous too. 

They reached the field and there before them were a ten little mountains of snow that had obvious been used as barriers and shelters by the children who were playing there earlier. Jack looked down at the field and took in the whole thing with one large breath. It was almost like scene out of a movie but without all the people playing and goofing around. He and Annie had their own private playground and he was going to make use of it. He turned to her, "Come on. Let's go!" With that he tugged her down a small, which lead into the field. 

Annie giggled a little as she felt a rush of air brush against her face as they ran down the slope into the field. She felt a bit unbalanced for a moment and thought she was going to fall but they reached the end of the slope before that happened. She allowed herself to be pulled behind one of the snow-made barriers and laughed as she was pulled to ground next to Jack and tried to catch her breath. 

"Come on Annie," Jack laughed at her. "This is not the time to be lying around. We have to start making snowballs so that when Carey gets here we can get him real good." 

"Right," Annie laughed at him. They both started to collect snow and make a pile of snowballs. 

"Hey you guys," Carey called out as he walked down to the field. "Where are you?" 

Jack looked at Annie and singled for her to keep quite. Then he slowly tucked his head over the barrier to look and see where Carey was. He looked back at Annie and singled to her that they would start throwing on the count of three. He held up one finger. 

"Come on you guys," Carey tried again. "This is so not fair." Jack held up his second finger. 

"You guys if you don't come out right now," Carey started to say but Jack held up his third finger and all the sudden Carey was being bombarded with snow. 

Carey reacted quickly though and ducked behind one the barriers that was opposite from the one that Jack and Annie were hiding behind. "Oh I am so going to get you guys," Carey called out from behind his barrier as he started to make snowballs quickly. 

"Really?" Annie laughed at him. "You and what army?" 

"Well you can count me in," Jack said and winked at her. 

Before Annie had a chance to react Jack had used one the snowballs they had stockpiled and squashed into her hat and little bits of snow feel onto her face. Then he had run. Annie peeked over the top edge of the barrier and saw Jack run to that was few feet down and facing in perpendicular direction to the ones that she and Carey were behind. 

As Jack ran for the barrier a few stray snowballs from Carey hit him but that was nothing compared to what would have happened to him if he had stayed near Annie. He leaned against the mound of snow to catch his breath and laugh. This was the best time he had since Fi left. Just laughing, goofing around, and not worrying about anything. No ghost, mischievous fairies, strange watches, or weird people. Everything here seemed perfectly normal and just being there made him feel normal. Jack never believed in any of the things that Fi or Annie claimed the saw but some weird things always seemed to be going on when no matter where the went. Annie always to talk about seeing ghosts or some other abnormal phenomenon and he thought that it could not be could for her to let her imagination run so wild, especially when she was starting to go into high school. 

Carey glanced above the barrier and saw that Annie was not moving and neither was Jack. He was just going to have to shoot some snowballs blind and hope that they hit something. Carey reached down and aimed one at where he thought Jack was. Then he launched snowball after snowball listening to each sound they made. Finally he heard the snow hit something and he started to pelt them more quickly. Then there was return fire, lots of it. Carey was so busy trying to stay clear of the snow and hit Jack at the same time that he did not notice Annie's small form move quickly along the barriers until she was right next to Jack's. 

Jack was busying throwing snowballs at Carey. He had not noticed that Annie was moving closer to him. Then out of nowhere someone jumped on him and covered his face with snow. 

Annie laughed as she looked down at Jake who was spitting out snow from his mouth. "You look like a living snowman Jack," Annie told him between giggles. 

"I'll show you living snowman," Jack laughed as he flipped her over and pushed her in the snow. 

"Jack no!" Annie laughed and started to throw snow up at him and he blocked it by throwing back at her. 

No one noticed the two figures standing in the shadows the trees. The figures watched as the teens played in their winter paradise laughing and smiling. They did not make a move just watched over them. 

"We should let him have fun. Be normal for a while," Rhylinye spoke in her familiar musical voice. 

"I suppose," Puck nodded at her. "After all in a while his life will never be the same again." 

"Look at them," Rhylinye laughed a little. "It is amazing how they found each other. Especially since many fey had no idea who they were until the time of the gathering drew closer." 

"Yes it is a very happy coincidence," Puck smiled at her. 

Rhylinye eyed him, "Did you have anything to do with this Puck?" 

Puck threw his head back in the air, "My Lady love, I am insulted. To think that I would do something for any other purpose other than to amuse myself." 

"How could I have made such a mistake," Rhylinye's voice had a tone of apology in it. "If you look carefully I think you will see that the other boy might cause trouble for our happy friends," Rhylinye tried examine Puck's to catch is reaction. 

"Really?" Puck stuck out his next as if that would give him a better view of the 'other' boy. "One can only hope." 

"Puck," Rhylinye warned him. 

Puck sighed, "I know, I know. If anything interferes in the pairing of the predestined couples of Avalon it will throw our whole world in to chaos. Mass destruction, darkness, death, blah, blah, and blah." 

"And we don't want that to happen, right?" 

"Right," Puck wanted to sulk. All he wanted to do was have some fun with humans but now no one would let him. 

Rhylinye shook her head at him and the looked toward the teens. She closed her eyes for a moment and then her whole body started to glow. Jack's skin started to glow but it was only for a spilt second and a normal human eye would have not noticed but Puck did. 

"Rhylinye, what did you do?" 

"I just wanted to make sure that he and the others would not be bothered by the spirit world this next few days," she answered innocently. 

Puck rolled his eyes at her but did choose not to pursue the matter. "Come my love. Fiona must be waiting for us by now." Rhylinye nodded and with that they both disappeared without anyone paying them heed. 

***** 

  


Fiona was exhausted. She had just spent hours practicing the same things over and over until she could get it right flawlessly. Before she agreeing to the magic lessons Fiona did not know that they were going to be so taxing or so repetitive. It was almost like going to school because she was not allowed to try doing certain things with her powers until she learned how to control the basic aspects of magic first. She dragged herself to her bed and collapsed. 

"Fiona?" Aunt Melinda called up to her. "Fiona are you home?" 

"Yes Aunt Melinda," Fiona called out to her. Her voice was muffled because she had turned her face to her pillows. 

Aunt Melinda softly tapped on the door, "Can I come in sweetie?" She heard Fi moan softly in reply. 

She stepped in and saw her niece's limp figure lying on the bed. Melinda normally did not worry about Fi because she had always been able to take care of herself but now Melinda was not so sure. She approached the bed and sat at the foot. "Honey, are you sick," she asked softly. 

Fiona turned her body around to face her worried aunt. "No Auntie. I am fine," Fi gave her a weak smile. "Just a little tired that is all. Lennie and I went horseback riding and now I feel like I have been holding up the horse all day," Fi thought to herself that what she was saying was half true. There were horses around when she was practicing, well things that were turned into horses by accident. 

"Okay honey. As long as you are not sick," Melinda got off the bed. "I would hate to call your mom and tell her that I let you get sick again. Do you want any dinner or did you let Lennie's parents stuff you?" 

"Stuffed," Fi replied. She had a mini feast with Puck, Rhylinye, and Evintha earlier when they were done torturing her. It was a festival dinner to celebrate her coming back to her Fey culture. Of course her training was to be kept secret until she and Jack had decided if they were going to help their 'family'. Rhylinye told her there would be an even bigger feast if they were given cause to celebrate. 

"Well alright then. Don't forget that you have to get up a little earlier tomorrow. I am starting my new job and I don't want to be late. Okay sweetie?" Melinda stood and looked at Fi. 

"Yes, I'll remember," Fiona smiled at her. "Have you decided what you are going to wear for your first day?" 

"I have," Melinda told her with great confidence. "But I am not going to tell you want it is because I don't want you to start putting doubts into my head about what I picked. Cosmo said that I should wear something that I am comfortable in." 

Fiona almost let her eyes roll, "I can't believe you bought Cosmo for the sole purpose of getting this job." 

"Well at least I didn't get it because I wanted a guy," Melinda said trying to justify her wasting money on the trashy magazine. 

"I will give you credit for that," Fi agreed. "I think I am gonna go to bed now Auntie. Don't forget to sleep tonight. You don't want to look tired and worn out on your first day. It wouldn't make a good impression on your new boss." 

"You are right," Melinda exclaimed. "I better hop in bed. Night sweetie!" Melinda kissed her on the forehead quickly and then rushed to the door stopping when she was standing in the frame. "Sweet dreams!" Then she walked down to her own room. 

Fiona sighed and looked up at the ceiling of her room. Tomorrow Evintha would come when she was suppose to wake up and take her place at school and Fi would transport herself to Avalon for day two of her training. She has learned how to channel her power today but tomorrow she was going to learn now to use spells. Rhylinye explained to her that the deference between their use of spells and a wizard such as Merlin's use of spells was that Merlin collected the magic around him. Fey were the very essences of magic. They only used hand magic and spells for show, or if they were casting multiple spells and wanted greater control of the magic that they channeled. Soon Fiona would be able to channel magic by just thought. All of this made her very happy but it also wore her out to think about it. Learning to do all of these things meant a lot of work. Magic took a lot out of a half Fey because they did not have the same magical resources within themselves, but she was going to be taught how to counteract that lack so her magic would be just as powerful as any other Fey's. With all this thoughts floating around in hear head Fi feel asleep dreaming of the days to come. 

***** 

  


Rhylinye laughed as the raindrops started to hit her face. She stuck out her arms and spun round and round her clothes flapping beautifully around her. "You did it Fi! You did it!" 

Fiona laughed as she watched Rhylinye spin, "Well I guess I did." 

"I knew she would be able to all along," Puck told them with a knowing smile. "The real trick is are you able to make it stop and have the sky clear in less then a second?" 

Fiona looked at him dumbfounded. She had a lot more control over her magic then she used to but it had taken her a good two weeks to get that amount of control and even then she had needed about a minute to create the rain. To get rid of it in less then a second would be even harder. Especially without the use of her hands to channel the amount of magic that would be needed to perform a task like that. "I am afraid that I would let my magic spin out of control," Fiona told them hanging her head as the rain poured down on it. 

"Try Fi," Rhylinye. "You can do anything as long as you put your mind to it." Puck nodded his head in agreement. 

Fi closed her eyes and grounded herself. The whole process felt like it took ten minutes but really it was only a matter of nanoseconds. Then she thought of a clear sky and sun above her head and used her mind to grab onto that image and pull it to her hard and fast. She had no idea how much time had passed but she did notice that the rain was no longer falling. She opened her eyes to see Puck and Rhylinye smiling at her. 

"Congratulations Fiona. That was just under a second," Puck's voice had a little pride in it. "Now do it again, and this time don't take so long." 

Sighing Fiona started the process of repeating the exercise until Puck and Rhylinye were happy with her control over the skill. When they finally gave her their approval she collapsed into a heap on the ground. She was so tired. 

"Fiona," Rhylinye's voice had worry in it. 

"I am fine Rye. Just a little tired that is all," she smiled at her Fey Aunt. 

Puck and Rhylinye looked at each other and then he spoke. "That is the problem Fi. You should not be tired at all. I am not sure you are using all your resources, you have enough of them so that you should never get tired from using magic." 

Fiona gave them a look that said I'm-using-all-my-resources-I'm-only-half-Fey! She had forgotten to shield her thoughts from them though and she blushed red when she realized it. 

"Oh Fiona," Rhylinye gave her a small hug. "Being half Fey doesn't mean that you have fewer resources, it just means you have different ones." 

"I don't understand," Fi whispered. 

Puck took her chin in his hand, "Look me in the eye." Fiona did as she was told. "You have resources that we Fey never could know." 

"What do you mean?" 

Puck put his hand on her heart, "I think you know." 

Fiona nodded and closed her eyes. She pictured her family, friends, and she held on to those thoughts. She felt strength returning to her. She felt her heart being to beat faster and her blood rush through her veins. It was like a new part of her was coming to life and it was invigorating. 

'I feel stronger,' Fi used her mind voice to path to her friends. 

'You are stronger,' Puck told her. 

'You are as strong as any of us,' Rhylinye's flowery voice entered Fi's mind. 'I told you your amount of resources were no different then a full Fey's. You just have to look harder that's all.' 

Fiona laughed, 'While I guess the saying is true that good things never come easy.' 

"I forgot who said that," Rhylinye's tone indicated that she was really thinking about it. "I think I dated him for a while but he was always trying to impress me with great thoughts. Of course back then I was not interested in humanity that much I just liked to go to their parties." 

"Let us not reminisce about the past ladies," Puck interrupted. "There is still much work to be done." 

'Can't we take a break for a little while,' one of the exercises that Fi had to practice today was trying to path her thoughts to others as much as possible. That way it would become easier for her to do. 

"The more breaks you take the longer this will take. Besides we are in the home stretch now. Soon you will be able to go back to living in Hope Springs with your mom," Puck told her. 

'Mom,' Fi just repeated in shock. Then she thought of something, 'She hates you.' 

"Nah, no one hates me," Puck told her and both of the ladies gave him a look. 

"We have thought of that," Rhylinye started to explain. "We are going to take on human forms soon. You will know who we are when we come and visit you here. We have to introduce ourselves to your aunt after all. We would not want her worrying about you just randomly disappearing." 

'So what are you human names going to be,' Fi asked as she slowly levitated herself in the air. She loved flying but she need more practice so she would not be as wobbly on when she took off and landed. 

"I have one but Rhylinye has not come up with one yet," Puck teased his beloved princess. 

"Picking a name is very hard," Rhylinye replied almost scolding him. "Besides don't we have to get on with Fi's lesson?" 

"You are right Lady," Puck bowed his head and then turned to Fi. 'We are going to play a game of hide and go seek.' 

'Hide and go seek,' Fi replied in amazement. 'How is that going to help me?' 

'You will learn how to use multiple powers at once and practice thinking like a Fey,' Rhylinye gave her a silly smile. 'Besides it is fun.' 

'There's that word,' Fi sighed inwardly. 'Anytime you say something is fun it means that is dangerous and most likely not fun. So what sick twist have you put to hide and go sick.' 

"It is not a sick twist. It is defense training," Puck told her rather proudly. "The Fey were the ones that came up with the so called game. Originally it was used as to practice defending ourselves from subjects of the Dark Lord." 

'Alright,' Fi's mind voice had disbelief in it. 'So I have to find you and defend myself from?' 

"Trust me you don't want to know," Rhylinye had a lot of foreboding in her voice. "Well that and you can't know. You have to use all your powers to figure out how to do this on your own and use the method that best suits you." 

"Rhylinye will be the one hiding and I will be the one attacking," Puck informed her. "Just to let you know. Rhylinye can move from her hiding place anytime she wants." 

'Great,' Fi felt defeated already. 'Well it is only my first try.' 

"That's right Fi," Rhylinye smiled at her. "Just do the best you can." 

"Alright let's get started," Puck looked at Fi. "Good luck." With that he and Rhylinye winked out of sight. 

Fi sighed to herself and kept herself levitated in the air as she closed her eyes and tried to get a sense of the land around her. They could be anywhere; it could take days to find them. Then the thought came to her. Rhylinye had told her one day that everything had its own unique magic signature. It was just the matter of detecting which one was Rhylinye and which was Puck. Fi concentrated on Rhylinye and in her mind's eye all she saw was black at first but then somewhere there was a little glimmer of rose colored light. She kept the rose light in her sight as she started to search for Puck; his light turned out to be a sky blue one. She examined each magic signature and felt the different vibrations that they gave off. They were basically the same but there was a slight variation between them. Puck's magic vibrations seemed to be pulsing a half a second faster than Rhylinye's. She then opened her eyes and held her breath for a minute to see if she would be able to keep her sense of the magic vibrations and do other things at the same time. It worked! Fi started to propel herself through the air towards Rhylinye's vibrations and thus the game began. 

After hours of practice and succeeding in her mission each time all the players collapsed on the ground. They were out of breath from laughing at the last trick Fiona had pulled to defend herself from Puck. The moment she had located Rhylinye she had turned Puck into a dog at the same time transporting herself to where Rhylinye was and captured her Fey aunt. The whole thing had taken about five seconds which was her best time from the whole practice. Once they had all claimed down they sat and watched the sun set over Avalon. Rhylinye sat behind Fi and slowly braided her hair as they watched the sun sink into the lake. 

Finally Puck spoke, "I hope you have decided on a name Rhylinye." 

"Huh?" both Rhylinye and Fi exclaimed at the same time giving him looks of confusion. 

"As Fiona's official trainer I now declare her training to be done. Fiona has shown that she has an exceptional amount of control over her magic and is ready to take her place in Fey society if she so chooses to do so, your majesty," Puck finished his little formal speech with a smile. 

"Great now I need a name," Rhylinye sighed. 

Fiona laughed at her, 'I am going to get to see my mother and brother again!' 

"Yeah but what female name will go with well with Incanto?" Rhylinye threw her hands up in there air. "No one can go anywhere until I have a human name!" 

"Well how about Incanta?" Fi joked was treated to a glare. "Alright, alright, jeez it was just a joke. Let me think for a second. What about Raliana?" 

"That is prefect. A variation of the word princess but with an r instead of a c," Rhylinye smiled. "And you will still be able to call me Rye. Now I have a name!" 

"The Great Incanto and his lovely assistant Raliana," Fi laughed. "It has a nice ring to it." 

"You know that I am the Great Incanto?" Puck was shocked. Incanto or Inky was one of his lesser known names. 

"Well Annie sent me an e-mail about her adventures with the Great Inky and I've never heard of any other Incanto before," Fi stifled a yawn. 

"Of course," Puck was amazed he had over looked such a small detail. "Well tomorrow Incanto and Raliana will pay you and your aunt a visit. For now you better go get some rest." 

Fi nodded and said her goodbyes. She transported herself to her room and lay on her bed. She started to dream about being with her mom again and seeing the others. In her sleep a smile found its way to her face and stayed there through out the night. After two weeks of work she had found the strength and power of her Fey side and tomorrow she would be able to say that she had official reopened her door to the spirit world. Life was starting to look up for Fiona Phillips and she was glad to know that she would no longer have to worry about scaring her mother or anyone else for that matter, she was in control. 

Author's Note: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes. 

Updates show up here faster: [ http://members.fortunecity.com/annabellefic/][1]

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	3. The Carousal of Life

Disclaimer **Disclaimer: **I own nothing. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please! 

**One In A Million **- Chapter 3: The Carousal Of Life   
__by Annabelle 

"I'm coming," Melinda yelled as she rushed out of the kitchen to the front door of her house. She had been baking a cake for Fi as a little pick-me-up surprise. Melinda was very worried about her niece who now always seemed to be tired and did not go out anymore. Sighing she smoothed the apron that she had on and turned the doorknob. She before her stood young blonde man and a dark haired young woman. "Can I help you?" 

"Is this the home of Fiona Phillips the daughter of famous Molly Phillips?" The young man's had a very official tone to it. 

"I am sorry," Melinda was not sure weather or not she should trust these people or not. Thankfully they were not sales people, sales people don't dress like they are extras for the some 1940's movie. The young man was dressed in a black slacks and a white semi-dress shirt with black suspenders and a tweed newsboy's cap; and the woman wore a typical burgundy forties dress with scalloped neckline, cuffs and peplum and a bolero hat with an egg shaped brim. 

The young man looked at her for a moment then shook his head. "No it is I who should apologize, I have gotten head of myself. My name is the Great Incanto and this lovely lady is my fiancée Raliana," Incanto pushed forward Raliana and she bobbed her head a little. "I met Ms. Phillips a few months ago in Missouri; she gave me a lift on her way to St. Louis." 

"And?" 

"Well I knew that her daughter was staying here in Seattle and I had a gift to give to Molly but I did not know were to send it," Incanto tried to explain but Melinda was not convinced. 

"Please ma'am we mean her no harm," Raliana spoke in a hushed calming tone that Melinda could barely hear. 

Then something strange overcame Melinda and she felt all of her suspicions leave her mind. Of course these people where here to give Fiona a gift for her mother, it made prefect sense. "I am so sorry. You must think me very rude," She opened the door a little wider. "Please come in and have a seat. I will go get her." 

"Thank you very much ma'am," Incanto said as he removed his cap and sat next to Raliana on a couch in the living room. 

'You goof,' Raliana pathed to him. 'Did you really think that she was going to let you in just because you claim to know Fi's mother?' 

'Well,' Incanto thought about for a moment. 'Yes I did. But it doesn't matter, you used your powers so it is all better now.' 

Raliana shook her head and sighed. Sometimes she thought being in human form made her fellow Feys a little bit more absent minded than usual. 

Then Melinda came in the room with Fiona following her closely. "Fiona this is Incanto and his fiancée Raliana. They know your mother and have come to give you a gift that they have for her." 

Fi took one look at 'Incanto' and 'Raliana' and almost laughed out loud. Not only because of their clothes but also because the poor excuse that they had come up with to get to see her. She moved to shake their hands and the both stood up to greet her. "It is a pleasure." 

"The pleasure is ours," Incanto spoke for himself and Raliana while everyone took a sit. "I am not sure if your mother every mentioned me because I was not around for very long but she did help me out a great deal." 

Fi nodded slowly, "I don't believe she did but my friend Annie told me a bit about you." 

"Ah yes, sweet Annie. She helped me more than your mother did," Incanto wore a smile that almost went from ear to ear. 

"I am afraid that my fiancé is forgetting that we do not have a lot of time here," Raliana folded her hands neatly into her lap. "There will be time for stories another time perhaps but for now our visit has to be brief." 

"Really," Melinda's voice had a sadness to it that no one could really explain, after all she had just meet these people. 

Incanto shook his head, "I am afraid it is true. So I will get straight to the point of my visit. I have a two-fold gift for your mother Fiona. The first part of the gift is this." He held out one hand and then waved the other directly above it. Then a metal shield appeared in his hand. At first it was small but then it grew and as it got larger one could start to make out the faded paint and metal etchings on it. "This," Incanto informed everyone as he handed the shield to Fi, "is your family crest. I found it on one of my trips to Europe and because it was in such good condition thought it would be the prefect gift. They say that the family crest not only protects but also brings power and good fortune to all in the clan." 

"Thank you," Fiona took the shield and looked it over with her aunt Melinda. 

"How did you do that," Melinda looked in wonderment from the shield to Incanto. 

"A magician's never relieves his secrets dear lady," Incanto chuckled slightly. "Now the second part of this gift is that I am going to make it possible for you to give your mother this present tonight," Incanto grinned even bigger than before but Raliana grimaced. 

"Inky don't," Raliana warned him. 

"I will. Do you doubt me?" Incanto sounded hurt. 

"Well to put it nicely," Raliana tried to sound sweet, "yes!" 

"Woah! Wait a minute," Melinda was starting to get very confused and the suspicion that she had first had about this people was starting to return. "I thought you said that you did not know where Molly was." 

"Ah, well it goes something like this," Inky stammered. "I wasn't going to perform tonight but well you were getting Fi I received a phone call asking me to perform at a venue in Maryland. I was going to ask you if it was alright to bring Fi with us to our next gig, which just happens to be in the same place were Molly is performing," now that he had regained his composure he was able to add that Melinda was also invited in a more adult sounding voice. 

Everyone sat in silence. Mostly in shock because of what Incanto had just proposed. Melinda was in the most shock because none of what was happening seemed possible. Finally she spoke, "But like you said the Molly's and your performance is tonight. In Glen Echo, Maryland!" 

"Yes that is true," the magician agreed. "However I don't see that being a problem. Thankfully the people at the park have not told Molly who is going to be opening for her. I told them that I was an old friend and I wanted to surprise her." 

"Greenland," Raliana muttered. "I just know this going to end in Greenland." 

"Greenland?" Melinda seemed more doubtful then before and gave Fi a worried look. 

"It is just Raliana's odd sense of humor," Incanto tired to reassure everyone. "I promise you that we will a travel to Glen Echo without any trouble at all." 

"But how," Melinda's head was starting to spin. 

"Yes, Incanto," Fi was trying so hard not to laugh. "How is it possible for us to go across three time zones and the whole country?" 

"Why with magic of course," Incanto waved his hand in the air as he spoke for a dramatic affect. Raliana rolled her eyes but did not say anything. 

"I am sorry Mr. Incanto," Melinda's voice was laden with disbelieve. "But I as much as I have been amazed by the talents you showed earlier I find it very hard to believe that you have the power to transport all of us from this house to Glen Echo, Maryland." 

"You are a very wise woman," Raliana smiled at Melinda. 

"Oh the amount of doubt in this room almost kills my spirits," Incanto held his hand to his chest in mock pain. 

"Does that mean that we are not going," Raliana asked hopefully. 

"No," Incanto glared at her. "Alright ladies get your things ready. Fi I would suggest you bring, well everything you own. You won't be back for a while. Ms. Melinda bring as much as you like, and ladies please do try to hurry a bit. I do not want to be late." 

"He isn't joking is he?" Melinda asked Raliana. 

Raliana snapped her fingers and an old carpetbag appeared next to her on the floor, "Unfortunately he is not. If you would like some help I can try to speed up the packing process for you." 

Melinda shook her head still not quite sure if she should believe what was going on. She was not entirely convinced that she had not slipped on the way to answer the door and hit head as she fell to the floor. 

"I wouldn't mind some help if I am going to be taking everything," Fi gave Raliana a goofy smile. 

Raliana nodded and the three ladies walked to upstairs to pack. Once Aunt Melinda was in her room with the door closed Fiona burst out into a fit of giggles. She was laughing so hard she almost fell to the floor. 

"What?" Raliana asked her truly confused as to what Fiona found so amusing. 

"Rye, your clothes, the excuses, the names, well everything," Fi managed to stammer between giggles. "That and it is hard for me to think of you as anything but Rhylinye, Princess of the Fey. Now you are Raliana, fiancée to the Great Incanto, it is just hard to sallow." Fi started to giggle again. 

Raliana sighed, "Well on the plus side I have started to think of myself as Raliana and not Rhylinye. Now come on. I want to see you pack your whole room into this carpet bag," Raliana/Rhylinye blinked and a carpetbag similar to the one she had downstairs appeared next to Fi. 

"Less than a minute right," Fi's laughter was starting to die down. 

"You read my mind," Raliana smiled. Fi merely sighed, closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then when she opened them again the entire room was empty except for the furniture and bedding that had been there when she got there. 

"Fiona do you need any help," Aunt Melinda started to ask but then she looked at the barren room. "Well I guess not." 

"Thanks anyway Auntie," Fi gave her a sad smile. "Raliana helped me pack." 

"You managed to fit everything into that bag?" Melinda stared at the bag that Fi held in her hands. 

"Magic," Fi told her. 

Melinda shook her head, "That is some talent that you have Miss Raliana." 

"Thank you very much," Raliana smiled. "I will give you two a few minutes alone. We will be waiting for you downstairs." Raliana turned and left the room. 

Melinda walked to the center of the room were Fi was standing hold her carpet bag tightly in one hand. She glanced around the room to and tried to picture what it had looked like just a few minutes before. "This house already feels empty," Melinda could feel the tears building up inside her. 

Fi did not say anything; she could not find any words. She just dropped her carpetbag and threw her arms around her aunt. They stood like that for a few moments and then Fi pulled away. "Thanks Aunt Melinda," Fi's voice was shaky. 

"Oh honey, you are welcome anytime," Melinda told her tenderly. "The only question I have is what we are going to do about school." 

"I am sure we will figure everything out once was talk to my mom," Fi laughed. "I don't think she would let me just withdraw from the wonders of higher education." 

Melinda laughed and then sucked in a breath. "Well I guess we should get going?" 

"Yeah," Fi picked up her bag and grabbed her aunt's hand. 

When the entered the living room the saw Raliana and Incanto having a hushed conversation but they stopped and looked at the others. "Well I take that you are ready to go?" Incanto half asked half stated. 

"Yes we are Mr. Incanto," Melinda put on a brave smile. 

"Good, good," Incanto moved closer to them. "Now everyone stand close to me and hold on to your luggage tight." 

"Are you sure this is going to work," Melinda's voice of logic was starting to kick in again. 

"Of course I am sure," Incanto told her. "Now just close your eyes and everyone picture Molly's face and keep that image in your mind." 

They all did as they were told but everyone could hear Raliana mutter something about Greenland. They felt a wind start to pick up around them and it grew stronger and louder. Then when it felt like the wind was about to blow them and the house away it stopped. 

"It doesn't feel cold enough to be Greenland," Raliana did not open her eyes; she just clutched her bag tightly to her body. 

"Of course not," Incanto almost ridiculed her. "We are in Glen Echo not Greenland." 

"Fiona or Melinda would you please let me know for sure that we are in Glen Echo?" Raliana kept her eye closed stubbornly. 

Fi and Melinda looked around the winter scene that they were and then Fi saw the sign. She let out a little scream, which caused everyone to turn and look in the same direction that she was looking. There in poster slot outside of one building was a picture of Molly Phillips with a yellow strip of paper going across the bottom right corner of the poster that said 'Tonight Only'. 

"I guess we are in Glen Echo," Raliana let a goofy grin spread across her face. "But where are we going to stay until later tonight?" Everyone laughed and the walked toward the building with Molly's poster on the side of it hoping to find someone who could tell them were they could go from there. 

****** 

"Mom, Annie it is almost time to get going," Jack yelled as he pounded on their door. 

Molly opened the door, "We will be right there. I promise sweetie. Just wait one more second." 

Jack sighed and walked down the hallway to the main lobby where everyone else was waiting. They all looked at him as he walked towards them with out his mom and Annie. He held his hands up in defense, "They said that they would be here in just a second." 

"Look," Carey pointed to the two figures coming down the hall. "There they are now." 

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting," Molly apologized for herself and Annie. 

Jack did not really hear what his mom was saying; he was too busy trying to figure out what was different about Annie. Then he felt an elbow gently shove him the back. He looked to see Carey giving him a look that said stop-gawking. Jack almost blushed but then he shook it off. 

"Well come one lets get going," Irene broke the silence that no one had really seemed to notice. "We don't want to be late." 

They walked out of the hotel to bus, which Ned had already started up so that it would be warm. They boarded the bus and Molly and Carey sat towards the front doing some last minute practicing as they went on the short drive to the Glen Echo Concert venue. 

Jack kept glancing at Annie every now and them. She did not seem to notice because her head was in a book. Finally when he looked down at the book to see what she was reading he noticed what was different. Annie was wearing a small thumb ring with an engraving in it. "Hey where did you get that from?" he asked her. "It looks just like the one that Fi has." 

"Fi gave it to me when she left," Annie answered straight away. She had only been pretending to read. She had actually been counting how many times Jack had glanced at her since they got on the bus. 

"Really," Jack took her hand in his and examined the ring more carefully. "I've never seen you wear it before." 

Annie looked at his face. He was not looking at her, he seemed to be entranced by the ring. "I don't wear it all that often," Annie spoke but Jack's eyes never left the ring. "I usually keep it safe in a box of mine." Jack still did no look up from the ring. "Jack?" 

"In a box," Jack repeated. "Got it," He withdrew his hand and stood up. "Sorry about interrupting your reading." He turned and walked towards his room at the back of the bus. "I got some studying to do. See you later Annie." 

"Yeah see you later," Annie mumbled and then once Jack had left the room she sighed and sunk deeper into the couch that she was sitting in. What was wrong with her? Of course Jack was interested in the ring, it was his sister's, it wasn't that he was interested in her. Annie closed her eyes and book and waited for the bus to arrive at Glen Echo. 

***** 

"Is everything ready?" Incanto asked the stage manager anxiously. 

"Yes everything is ready," the stage manager told him for the fifth time. "Ms. Phillips will be here shortly." 

"And the sign. What about my sign?" Incanto's voice was reaching new heights of apprehension. 

"Your sign?" the stage manager shook her head. 

"My sign. The one that says opening for Molly Phillips tonight The Great Incanto," Incanto half yelled. 

"There is no sign." 

"No marque?" 

"No marque." 

"How is there no marque. This is supposed to be a concert venue?" 

"This is a folk concert venue, we don't use marques. If you want to have a sign hung up we can do that, but we do not do marques," the stage manager's voice was strained with annoyance. She then turned and left. 

Incanto just stood there with his mouth hung open staring at were the stage manager had once been. Raliana walked about behind him, "Darling what is wrong?" 

"No marque," was all he was able to say. 

"Dearest, I am sorry I do not understand," Raliana looked at him with worry written all over her face. "Please talk in full sentences." 

Incanto grabbed his shoulders with his hands, "She says that there is no marque," he shook his fiancée with each word he spoke. 

Raliana laughed, "Is that all?" 

"Is that all?" Incanto hissed at her. "Is that all! As if there should be anything else wrong." 

"It is not a big deal," Raliana mimicked him and shook his shoulders. 

"Not a problem? It is not a problem!" he was started to yell again. 

Raliana shook her head and gave her hand a little wave, "There! Now there is a marque, which says: Featured Tonight Molly Phillips with opening act The Great Incanto. Happy?" 

"Yes thank you," Incanto sighed and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Now what is that you are wearing?" 

"Don't you like it," Raliana spun around in the odd looking flashy low cut dress. "Fi picked it out for me. She saw the picture online and said that it was the prefect thing for a magicians assistant." 

"It is awful," Incanto looked at her in disgust. He snapped his fingers and the dress was replaced with a modest V neck sleeveless silky red nylon jersey 1940's dress. "There that is much better, isn't?" 

"Yeah, I guess," Raliana looked down at what she was wearing and forced a smile. "What are you going to wear?" 

"This," in a flash Incanto's clothes changed into a black and white pinstripe vest with a white shirt and a black cape and a pair pinstripe pants. "Classy, no?" 

"Very," Raliana smiled even harder. "Well I am going to go check on Fi and Melinda. Try not to worry so much while I am gone. Everything will go fine tonight. Remember you are not just the Great Incanto. You a very special," Raliana laughed a little. 

"Please don't remind me," Incanto rolled his eyes. "It is hard enough as it is to stay in person without having to think about everything else that we have to do. Great now I am starting to sound like Incanto. For the love of the great Lord, I just want to be Fey again!" 

"All too soon darling, all too soon," Raliana laughed again and then left him there to fuss over every other little detail that was suppose to happen that night. 

***** 

"Alright everyone we are here," Ned called out from the driver's seat. He had barely put the bus in park when his wife bounded off the bus and ran into the building telling everyone that she would be right back as she went. 

"Thanks Ned," Molly answered and then turned to Annie. "Annie will you go get Jack and tell him it is time to go inside?" 

Annie stood up from the couch and put on her happy face, "Sure thing Molly." 

After she had left Molly looked at Carey, "Is there something wrong with her?" 

"Just the usually angst of being a teenager," Carey replied as he put his guitar back in its case. 

"Oh," Molly thought about that for a moment. "Teenage angst? I didn't know you could have that traveling on the road." 

"With the right people around you can," Carey said mysteriously. 

Molly was again puzzled by what he was saying then it hit her, "No." 

"Afraid so," Carey shrugged. 

"This is not good," Molly stated. "Not good at all." 

"Why not?" Carey did not understand Molly's reaction at all. He was not expecting her to be happy about the situation but for her to be outright upset about seemed a little over kill. 

"Three words. Small tour bus," Molly told him in a very serious voice. "I better talk to Jack." 

"Why don't you wait awhile," Carey suggested. "Let them come to you. You don't want to seem overbearing, after all they are still just friends." 

"Reason number two talk to them now," Molly was playing devil's advocate. "Annie goes back to her family at the end of the school year. The whole thing is just a very bad idea." 

"What's a bad idea," Jack asked as he and Annie entered the room. 

Carey thought quickly for a cover, "Molly and I were just talking about some new lighting for the show, but she is right. Very bad idea to change the lighting right before a show." 

"Yeah," Molly decided to agree with Carey because right now as not the time to be talking about problems of the heart with her two resident teenagers. She had a performance to give. 

"Come on people, let's shake a leg here," Irene shouted as she tucked her head back into the bus. 

Everyone laughed as the started to march off the bus. Then Annie stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the concert venue. Everyone else stared at her because they could not see what the problem was. 

"Annie honey, what's wrong?" Molly questioned. 

"That marque wasn't there early today," Annie pointed to the marque that was now centered above the doors into the venue. 

"That's ridiculous Annie," Jack said in his no nonsense matter a fact voice. "You must have just missed the last time we were here." 

"Alright then," Annie was starting to get into the mode where she had to prove to everyone that she was not crazy. "Who here knew that Molly had an opening act tonight?" 

Everyone looked at each other and then at the sign. Sure enough it read that tonight The Great Incanto would be opening for Molly Phillips. "How can that be?" Irene asked no one in particular. "I was not told that there would be any opening act." 

"This is totally awesome," Jack's voice was full of elation. "I wonder if Inky will remember any of us." 

"Well I guess there is only one way to find out," Carey looked at Annie and then at Jack. 

"Front row seats!" they all cried in unison and started to race to the building. 

"Hey wait a minute you guys!" Molly called at to them and they stopped and turned around. 

"Carey what about the performance?" Molly asked him. 

"Oh please Molly," Carey begged. "I mean this is a one-time chance kind of thing. Besides you know you want to see what he is gonna do." 

"Alright," Molly smiled at them. "Irene, Ned and I will talk with the stage manager for a minute and then meet you out on the floor." 

"Deal!" Carey agreed for himself and the others. 

Once they were inside Annie, Carey, and Jack made their way to the front. When they got there they saw that there were signs on some of the chairs that said reserved. Just then an usher dressed in a red cap with gold lining that strapped under his chin and a red vest walked up to them, "Excuse me; are you with the Molly Phillips tour?" 

"Well yes we are," Jack answered. 

"Good we have been waiting for you guys to get here. These seats are yours. It is Glen Echo policy to save seats for the performers and their entourage," the usher told them. "I hope you enjoy the opening act," he removed the reserved signs from the seats and walked away. 

"This is totally wicked," Annie said as she took a seat in the cushy red velvet chair. "This venue absolutely rocks. It is like being in an antique theater." 

"I think it is an antique theater Annie," Jack told her jokingly. "Did you see the Dentzel carousel outside? That thing is totally hand painted and hand carved. I wish it was running now. It would be kind of cool to go on." 

"Jack you must be going through childhood regression," Carey laughed at him. 

"What?" Jack gave him a little glare. "A guy can't want to ride on a carousel every now and then? Besides I remember when my dad, mom, Fi, and I used to go ride one just like that. Well it was a replica but it was almost… Well almost magically. It is one of the few good memories I have left." 

"Well I think that is very sweet Jack," Annie gave him a silly smile. 

"You two just don't understand the value of a good memory," Jack sighed. 

Before anyone could respond to his comment Molly, Ned, and Irene walked up to where they were sitting. "Hey guys," Molly greeted them, "I see you found the reserved sitting." 

"Yep," Annie smiled. "This usher dressed in a very traditional outfit told us all about it." 

"Mom," Jack started, "everything here seems kinda traditional. The outfits, the chairs, the whole decor." 

"Well Jack people here at Glen Echo really want to preserve what they have," Molly told him. "I know this place seems really folk but all sorts of things happen here and the place has a lot of history. It is like an indoor Wolf Trap." 

"Hey Molly, how long do we have until Inky goes on?" Annie asked 

"Not that long. Apparently there is about an half an hour intermission in between when he gets off and I go on," Molly told everyone. They all noticed the groups of people that were starting to file into the theater. 

"They want to make sure that the stage will be set right for Molly and do some sound checks. While they do that food is served in just down the hall in this makeshift dinning hall," Irene's voice indicated that she could not really believe what she was saying. 

"Wow," was all Annie could think to say. "This place is so different." 

"Yeah," Ned told the kids. "It carters to a much small crowds, but during the summer months there are a lot of concerts, demonstrations, workshops, and festivals which a lot of people attend." 

"If everyone would kindly start to move to there sits the first performance will be starting in just a few moments," a voice spoke over the speaker system in the theater. 

"Hey did you guys get to see Inky backstage by any chance," Jack asked if this goofy look on his face. 

"No, we didn't actually," Molly seemed a little perplexed. "The stage manager said that Inky had been he had been bugging her since he arrived but she could not get a hold of him while we were back there." 

"Strange," Carey commented and the others agreed with him. 

Then the lights in the house started to flicker to indicate that everyone should report to their seats and get ready for the show. The lights started to dim as the last people took their seats and then the voice from before spoke again. "Ladies and Gentlemen for our opening act tonight the Glen Echo Theater is proud to present the magic happenings of The Great Incanto." 

"I wonder if he has any better control of his magic this time," Jack whispered to Annie as the curtain started to open. 

Annie giggled softly and then playfully hit him on the arm. She signaled to him to be quiet as the waited to see what was going to happen. The lights on the stages started to flicker blues and violets and smoke swirled around stage. Then a tiny light started to shimmer in the middle of the air at the center of the stage. The light grew bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a tennis ball. Then it seemed to exploded and there standing at center stage was The Great Incanto. Everyone gasped and then once they got over their shock the started to clap and Incanto took a bow. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for you warm welcome," Incanto spoke in a grand voice. "Now if you would all be patient for just a moment my assistant will join us." Incanto produced a lovely red rose from his cape. Then he placed the flower on the floor, as he did this the smoke that had been there seemed to clear instantly. "I promise this will just take a moment," Incanto reassured the crowd backing away from the rose a little. He then held his arms out above the flower and started to wave them around but nothing happened. "Sometimes she just needs a little extra push to come out onto the stage. She is very shy," he smiled at the audience and began again. 

This time the flower started to grow much in the same manner as the light that Incanto had emerged from. The rose was no longer laying flat on the floor it looked like it was upright with its steam just barely touching the stage. Then a red glow started to take over the whole flower and it seemed to stretch out rapidly. Once the glow was gone everyone could see a young woman dressed in red standing with her arms in the air making a slight V and smiling at everyone. "Ladies and Gentlemen the beautiful Raliana," Incanto introduced her as he took her hand. He bowed as the audience cheered again and Raliana curtseyed slightly. 

"I would say that he has improved a lot," Annie whispered to Jack as she clapped and he nodded. 

"Now I have decided to perform for you a trick that I have just recently started to work on," Incanto looked over the audience as he spoke. "Raliana will you please bring the box to the stage." 

Raliana stopped smiling at the crowd and looked at Incanto, "The box?" 

"Yes the box," Incanto kept smiling and did not break eye contact with the audience. 

"We didn't bring a box with us," Raliana's voice sounded hesitant. 

"Of course we brought the box with us," Incanto finally looked at her and everyone could tell that he was no longer smiling. "I packed it myself." 

"I unpacked everything that we had for tonight and there was no box," Raliana tried to sound forceful but she looked like she feared for her life. 

"Raliana, I brought that box, I know it," Incanto's voice sounded condescending. 

"Well," Raliana looked down at the ground and then back at him. "What did it look like?" 

"It was the big blue box with stars all over it and had a whole on front of panel, it was on the left side of the panel, and was in the middle," Incanto was starting to grimace. 

"So it wasn't this box," Raliana pointed down stage and a yellow and green striped box appeared. 

"No, it is not that box," Incanto sighed. 

"How about this one?" this time Raliana made a black box with gold stars appear but there was no hole on the front of it. 

"Nope." 

"And you are sure it is not this one," Raliana replaced the black box with a sliver one. 

"Raliana it is not any of those," Incanto pointed at the box. "It is this box," and as he pointed at where Raliana's box was a blue box with stars all over it and a hole appeared on stage. Everyone erupted into applause for the magician and is helpful assistant. 

"Now please tell me you have the black velvet hand," Incanto half begged her. 

"Right here," Raliana replied as she produced a fake hand that had a wooden peg at the end of it. 

"Good," Incanto let out a sigh of relief. "Now we can begin. Ladies and Gentleman this particular bit of magic has no name to it just yet, however I will need a volunteer from the audience." 

"Go on Annie," Jack smiled at her. "Volunteer." 

"I will," Annie said definitely and raised her hand. 

Incanto looked out over the crowd and saw that Annie had her hand up and smiled at her. "Raliana will please help that young lady in the front row to the stage?" Incanto asked his assistant and she nodded and walked off the stage to collect Annie. 

"Now many of you might not know this but this young lady is very special. Her name is Annie Thelen and she has a wonderful singing voice which she is developing with the help of tonight's featured performer Molly Phillips," Incanto took a breath so that he could continue with his speech. "All of you are wondering how I know this, well I meet Annie a while back in St. Louis. However this is the first time I have seen since then and we have not spoken at all today, right Annie?" He looked at Annie who had now made her way onto the stage with the help of Raliana. 

"That is correct. I haven't seen or heard from you since when we dropped you off in St. Louis a few months ago," Annie affirmed his statement. 

"And you would not lie to this people would Annie?" 

"No of course not," Annie sounded slightly appalled at the idea that she would lie to anyone. 

"Good, good," Incanto smiled at her. "Well it is good to see you again Annie. Now could you tell me something about that ring you have on your finger. I don't remember seeing the last time when we meet." 

"Well I don't wear it all that often," Annie told him and the audience. "My friend Fi gave it to me before she went to stay in Seattle with her aunt." 

"And where is she right now?" Incanto asked her. 

"Well she is still in Seattle; she will be there for the rest of the school year. I just talked to this morning," Annie smiled but there was sadness behind her smile. 

"What would you say if I told you that I could bring her here right now but that I would need the use of that ring that you were wearing," Incanto pointed to the ring. 

"Wow! That's so wicked!" Annie exclaimed. 

"Now before I attempt this great feat of magic I need you to do a few things for me," Incanto waved to Raliana and she stepped forward with the black velvet hand. "The first thing I need you to do is to examine this hand and tell everyone if there seems to be any hidden compartments or anything like that on it." 

Annie took the hand and looked it over, "It's made out of wood and there is velvet glove over it, but it does not seem to be any tricks to it." 

"Very good," Incanto took the hand back from Annie. "Now I need you too look over the box very careful and tell us if there is any secret doors to the box and to assure everyone that is empty." As he spoke Raliana pushed the box closer to him and Annie. 

Annie looked over the box and walked around it. She knocked each side of the box and ran her hand over it. Then she pulled the box door open and stepped inside looking for anything that might be suspicious. She stepped back out, "There doesn't seem to be anything there." 

"Alright then would you now please do me the favor of placing your ring on the hand," Incanto held the hand out toward her. "Please put it on the same finger that your friend wore it on." Annie nodded and took over her ring and placed it on the thumb finger of the hand. 

"Raliana," Incanto called forth his assistant. "Please place the hand in the whole on the box." Raliana nodded and did as she was told. 

"So are you ready to see your friend Annie?" Incanto looked at Annie. 

"Totally," Annie beamed with excitement. 

"What you audience? Ready for some magic?" Incanto glanced over the crowd as they all clapped and cheered. "Very well, let's get started. Annie and Raliana if you would please step back and stand a good three feet away from the box." The young women stepped back and watched. 

Incanto stretched out his arms again hand wiggled his fingertips a bit. Then the box started to spin slowly clockwise. Incanto thrust his hands towards the box and it spun fast and kept going faster until it was just a blur of blue and gold. Suddenly the box halted and panel with the velvet hand faced out towards the audience. 

Annie looked at the box and then at the hand and she noticed that the hand moved. "The hand, it moved! I swear it!" Annie pointed at the hand, which was now clearly flexing its fingers. 

"Would you like to open the box Annie?" Incanto asked and with out answering Annie ran over to the box, flung the door open, and gasped. 

Everyone in the crowd looked on in amazement. There standing in the box was a brown haired girl wearing the black velvet glove with the ring on top of it. Molly was in totally shock; she could not move or speak. She felt Jack's hand on hers but she did not take her eyes off the girl in the box. There at center stage stood her daughter Fiona Phillips smiling at everyone. 

"Fi," Annie flung her arms around the girl. "This is totally awesome." 

"Hi Annie," Fi hugged her back. 

"Hold it," Incanto stopped everyone in the middle of their rejoicing and applauding him. "Fiona isn't there someone in Seattle who will worry if you are gone?" 

"Well yeah," Fi's voice had guilt in it. "My Aunt Melinda. She will worry because I am gone and didn't tell her or leave a note." 

"Hmm," Incanto thought for a moment. "You don't have anything that happens to be hers do you?" 

"No," Fi seemed a little confused but his question. 

"Alright we are going to have to do this the hard way," Incanto looked at Raliana. 

Raliana started to shake her head, "Oh no you don't. You couldn't pay me to go inside that box." 

"Raliana," Incanto warned her. 

Raliana sighed and stepped into the box, "I just know something bad will come of all this." 

"Girls if you would please move three feet away," Incanto gestured to them. Then he closed the door to the box and pulled at tab, which caused the hole in the box to be sealed off. 

"Hey what are you doing?" Raliana yelled frantically, her voice muffed because of the box. She started to pound on the walls of the box. "Let me out of here!" 

"Just relax Raliana," Incanto spoke in a soothing voice. "Nothing will go wrong. I promise. Just keep taking deep breaths." As he was talking Incanto produced a large shimmering blue cloth from out of nowhere, or so it seemed. "Fi I am going to need you to picture your aunt in your mind." Fi nodded and closed her eyes. 

He then threw the cloth over the box and began to count. Then he grabbed the edge of the cloth from the floor and tugged at it. As the cloth came away from the box everyone noticed that the figure of the box disappeared from underneath and once the cloth was fully removed there stood a woman holding a black cat. The woman was older than Raliana and looked a little bit like Fi. 

"Aunt Melinda! You are here," Fiona could not hide her excitement. 

"Where is here?" Melinda looked very confused. The cat she was holding started to twist in her hands so she put it down. 

Incanto looked at the cat, "Raliana?" 

"Meow!" responded the cat. Then it hissed at him. 

"Oh I am sorry Raliana," Incanto told the cat. "Just give me a minute and I will fix this." He pointed at the cat and it turned into a white peacock. 

"That is not right," Incanto looked thoughtfully at the peacock that flared up its tail feathers. Everyone in the audience let out a little sigh because of the beauty of the bird. 

"Let me try again," Incanto pointed to the bird. Its tail feathers seemed to flop over the rest of its body. The feathers appeared to turn into a white silky fabric and when the fabric flipped itself up there stood Raliana dressed similarly to what she had on early but now it was white and had a train. Raliana smiled for everyone as they clapped and the show continued. 

***** 

After the curtain had closed backstage went into totally chaos. Molly, Jack and the others rushed back stage to join Fi, Melinda, and Annie. Some tears were shed, smiles were abundant, and everyone was hugging each other. Incanto and Raliana watched in the background and smiled, they knew that they had done the right thing. 

Finally once the excitement had died down a bit Molly turned to the magician and his assistant, "I don't know how you managed to do this but thank you so much!" 

"Think nothing of it," Incanto waved her thanks off. 

"Easy for you to say," Raliana replied. "You weren't the one changed into a cat and then a peacock!" Everyone laughed. 

"But really Inky, how did you do this," Jack asked curiously as he kept his arm drooped around his sister's shoulders. 

"Well I was in Seattle early today and then Raliana reminded me that I had a gig here at Glen Echo tonight. So she suggested that I give the gift that I had for Molly to Fi," Inky started. "Then I thought of an even better idea. I would bring Fi, if she wanted to come, with me to visit her mother and of course her aunt too. I can't have any law suits." 

"So you bought four plane tickets to get here from Seattle. That must of cost you a fortune," Irene tried to calculate the price in her head. 

"No," Incanto shook his head. 

"If only," Raliana sighed. "Then I would have been sure that we ended up here and not in Turkey." 

"Huh?" Carey was totally lost just like everyone else. 

"I poofed us here," Incanto told them proudly. 

"Poofed?" Jack questioned 

"Yes poofed," Inky restated. "Or you could call it transport. Magic, it is the only way for penniless magicians and their entourage to travel." 

"You used magic to get here," Jack was in totally disbelief. Then he chuckled, "That is a good one Inky." 

"No he really did," Aunt Melinda told her doubting nephew. "One minute we were standing in my living room and the next we were here." 

"Wicked!" Annie exclaimed. 

"Yeah," Raliana spoke with exasperation. "Once you get the spell down pat. I have been to Turkey, Greece, Spain, and Greenland. Don't even ask me how many times I have been to Greenland; it has almost become a second home. All because he did not have the targeting aspect of the spell down." 

Incanto glared at her. "Well because you have decided to become so vocal, let me properly introduce you to my friends. Molly, Jack, Annie, Carey, Ned, and Irene this lovely lady is my fiancée Raliana." 

"You guys can call me Rye if you like," Raliana smiled as she shook all of their hands. "Everyone does." 

"Nice to meet Rye," Molly smiled at the young woman who could not be older than Carey. "Thank you too for helping bring my baby to me." 

"Mom," Fi complained. 

"I am sorry sweetie," Molly hugged her daughter for the millionth time that night. "I have just missed you so much." 

"Well you don't have to miss me anymore," Fi stated proudly. "If you'll have me I would love to come back. On one condition." 

Molly laughed, "Well I am sure we can work something out." 

"You let Inky and Rye travel with us," Fi stated. Before he mother could protest, "They have their own bus and everything. They could join the tour with us and we spilt everyone up between buses. Have a girl's bus and a guy's bus. Please mom!" 

"You guys have a bus?" Jack looked doubtful. 

"Well we will after tonight," Inky had goofy smile on his face. 

Raliana rolled her eyes, "He is working for a bus. Not for money, but for a bus!" Everyone laughed. 

"Well honey," Molly looked at her daughter. "Irene, Ned and I will have to think about it. But like I said I am sure we can work something out. But before we do that, is there anyone who would protest at having Inky and Rye join us?" 

"No," everyone spoke in unison. 

"Well then I guess we have to figure about something out," Molly smiled. Then she turned to Melinda. "Thank you so much for taking care of Fi." 

"It wasn't a problem at all," Melinda smiled back. "She was a joy to have around. I am gonna miss you a lot Fi," Melinda hugged her niece. "However there is still the matter of her school work." 

Fi groaned and the others laughed at her. So after Molly had given a great performance the rest of the night was spent talking about travel plans, school work, and living arrangements. Well the adults talked everything the teens decided to go explore the rest of Glen Echo. The park manager told them that it would be okay as long as they stayed in well-lit areas. 

"Jack look at that carousal," Fi pointed to unlit ride. "Doesn't remind you of something?" Annie and Carey started to laugh. "What?" Fi questioned. 

"Oh Jack remembers something," Carey stammered out as he laughed. 

"Yeah I do," Jack frowned at Carey. Then he turned to his little sister, "I remember riding on one just like it with you, Mom, and Dad. It was a very long time ago but it was just before Dad…" 

"I kind of remember it," Fi did not finish Jack's sentence. He would learn soon enough what really happened to their father. "It is all fuzzy. Come on lets get closer you guys." 

"Wait," Raliana stopped them. She closed her eyes for a moment and a slight wind blew up and cleared the ground around the carousal of the old snow that was on the ground. Then lights of the carousal flickered on and they all could hear faint music coming from it. "Okay now we can go." 

Everyone laughed as they ran towards the now working carousal and they started to chase each other around it. They ran in between the wooden animals and ducked around the little wooden carriages. They were having so much fun and then Inky decided to that it was time to out do his fiancée. 

"Alright everyone hop on an animal. This ride is about to start up," Inky laughed as everyone scurried to sit on a lion, rabbit, or horse. "Here we go," Inky's voice joyful told them as the carousal started to move. 

"Won't the park manager notice that the carousal is on and running," Jack's logic started to kick in. 

"Don't worry about it," Rye told him. "We know the guy personally. As long as we leave everything just as we left it everything will be fine." 

So they all treasured the ride as the snow started to fall around them. Jack looked up at the night sky and thought about the snow for a moment. When something good seemed to be happening to him now a days it was always snowing. He laughed while he watched the flakes fall to the ground and enjoyed the magnificent feel of being on the carousal and let the memories of happy times in his life wash over him. Things were getting better now, his sister was back and now everything felt right again. 

Fi laughed at Jack as he stuck out his arms and pretended that the animal he was on was flying. It was good to be back with her family again. She knew that Jack was happy to have her back and that he would enjoy having Inky and Rye around. She also knew that everything was going to work out just as she wanted it to, her magician friends saw to that. There was something else though, something that she had not counted on. She had noticed the way that Jack had been looking at Annie earlier. There was something different there but she was not sure she wanted to guess as to what it was. If what she was seeing was really there and Annie felt the same way it could mean big trouble. Rhylinye had told her something about the Fey culture that still disturbed her, but she had decided not to worry about because she was not affected by it. Now though it looked like Jack might have some problems dealing with the fact that he would have to leave certain humans behind. Fiona sighed and pushed the troubling thoughts to the back of her mind and decided that she would just enjoy the rest of evening and everything that happened after that and not worry about anything until it became a problem. She was safe now and so was her family and just knowing that made her a very happy halfling. 

'You are not a Halfling!' Rye shouted to her in her mind. 

Fi smiled and shook her head. Halfling or not she was happy and she was not going to let anyone get in the way of her enjoyment for the next few days. 'Thank you Puck! Thank you Rye!' She pathed to her friends and started to giggle because Jack was starting to goof off again. 

In the shadows a dark figure watched the happy group with disgust. 'You have failed me wisp,' the overbearing figure pathed to the ball of light next to him. 

'I am sorry my Lord,' the wisp was fearful of what his Lord would do to him. 'It will not happen again.' 

'No it won't,' the figure turned away from the group and walked deeper into the shadows. 'It is time to try a different tactic wisp. Come, we have much to plan.' 

The wisp followed his master into the shadows but turned back for a moment, 'Watch out little duck. Nothing will stop us now.' The wisp chuckled and faded into the shadows with his Lord. 

**Author's Note**: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes.

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	4. The Struggle Called Sentience

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: I own only Raliana, Rhylinye, and anyone else that you do not see normally. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please!

One In A Million

by Annabelle

The sky was lovely shades of red and pink with lazy clouds streaking across it. The sun had just started to peak over the tress and shone on the ground's light layer of snow. The air was cold with a brisk wind blowing softly through the quiet sleepy town. 

However in front of a little hotel the Molly Phillips bus and a bus of similar size had pulled up and sleepy figures could be seen standing in front of them. The sleepiest of them all was a young brown haired girl who kept resting her head against her brother's shoulder as she waited to board a bus.

Fiona yawned yet again and tried desperately to keep her eyes open but it was to no avail. Unlike almost everyone else she had only been able to get a few hours of sleep the other night. After everyone else had gone sleep she had to sneak out of her room, not a very big deal because she just transported herself to where Rye and Inky were waiting for her, it was what happened after she had gotten there that was making her so tired.

Puck and Rhylinye discarded their human forms and were dressed in very dignified clothing and they dressed Fi in a similar manner. After that was done the remaining time was spent performing ceremony after ceremony, all which basically said that Fiona would not use her powers to manipulate humans in a way that might lead to their untimely death or necessary danger. That if she used her powers to harm another living being it would be in self-defense or to protect others. She promised to up hold the laws of magic use until her dying day. The only thing she did not do was to pledge allegiance to the Fey and Oberon, only because of the pervious agreement that she had with Rhylinye, which said that she and her brother would not make any decision until they were well informed on what their choice would mean. 

Finally Rhylinye and Puck took Fi's thumb ring and recited an incantation over it. Then Rhylinye placed the ring on Fi's thumb and it gave off a strange glow. When Fi looked at her ring see could still see the glow but it was not as bright and she asked why. Puck explained that it was a sign to show that she was now and forever a part of the magic community. After they were finished the Fey took their human forms of Incanto and Raliana and told Fi to go straight to bed.

Fi would have gone too sleep once she sunk back into her bed but she stayed up looking at her ring. As she stared at the design on the ring she could have sworn she heard a voice calling to her. The voice was very familiar to her but she could not figure out whom it belonged to. Fi closed her eyes and when she did that she saw the face of a man smiling at her. She knew then that it was her father and that he was still with her, just like he promised. Fi sighed and fell asleep with a smile on her face, until Annie shook her awake at 5:30 in the morning. Fi had moaned and tried unsuccessfully to hit Annie and make her go away but eventually she got up and packed her stuff.

"Alright everyone has everything they are going to need for the next few hours right," Ned asked the group before they boarded the bus.

"Yes," came several the sleepy replies.

"Good! Irene will drive the second bus for the first leg and then we will figure out how to switch off and who to shuffle around after that," Ned knew that they were only hearing half of what he was saying but he still wanted to try and make everything clear.

"Sleep Mr. B. I just want to go back to sleep," Jack pleaded with him.

"I second that," Fi chimed in with a yawn. "I don't care which bus I am on as long as there is a bed for me to sleep in."

"Alright," Ned felt kind of bad for the kids. He knew that they had stayed up kind of late because they were so excited to see each other again. "Jack, Incanto, Carey, and Molly will be on the first bus for right now. Raliana, Annie, and Fi will be on the second bus." The all nodded and everyone but Molly, Incanto, and Melinda boarded the busses.

"Melinda are you sure you don't want to come with us for a little while?" Molly asked hopefully.

"No I really have to get back. I have to get all of Fi's school record sent off to you," Melinda smiled.

"Well alright," Molly smiled sadly at her. "Thank you so much," Molly hugged her.

"You are very welcome," Melinda returned the hug and then backed away. "Well I better get going before I start crying again."

"Call us as soon as you get home," Molly requested. 

Melinda nodded her agreement as she wiped away a stray tear, "When Fi wakes up give her an extra hug for me. Okay?"

"I will. Be safe."

"Oh she will be very safe," Incanto reassured the two women. "This will only take a minute. Hold tight to your bag."

Melinda did as she was told and waved good-bye to Fi who was watching from the window of the bus. Then Incanto raised his arms and a small circle of wispy blue lighting swirled around Melinda. Then the light seemed to engulf her and once it faded away she was gone. A few minutes after everyone had finished boarding the busses Molly's cell phone rang.

Hours had passed as Fi slept in the small bedroom on the bus. She heard someone come in and check on her every now and then but they let her sleep and she would let them believe that she was asleep. Finally Raliana got tried of waiting for her to wake up.

"We are going to have breakfast now with or without you so get your lazy butt out of bed if you want to eat with the rest of us," Raliana told her in a sing song voice. She did not bother to wait for a reply and just walked out of the room.

Fi sighed and threw the covers off of her. She had been having strange dreams about a banshee she had encountered a while ago. She kept hearing the banshee tell her that someone else was responsible for taking her father. Fi thought about the banshee as she brushed her hair and found some shoes to wear. Apparently while she was sleeping Raliana and Annie had unpacked her bag. They had arranged the room in such a manner that her things Raliana's and Annie's would manage to fit, but Annie's stuff was still on the other bus and Raliana had not unpacked so the room looked kind of empty.

"Morning sleepy head," Rye teased as she walked into the community room of the bus. "Like our all girl arrangement?"

"Well at least I don't have to worry about what I look like in the morning when I wake up or who is in the bathroom," Fi laughed. "But I would have liked to get some time to spend some time with Jack and my mom."

"You will Fi," Irene called back to her. "Just not until we reach the end of our first leg."

"Right," Fi gave the other girls a funny look as she sat down and waited for breakfast to be served. "So what was made and who made it?"

"Raliana made eggs and toast," Annie told her with a smile. "It was so cool to watch her. She did the whole thing with magic."

"Sorry I missed it," Fi laughed.

"Just because I am a magician in training doesn't mean that I don't how to cook," Raliana told her. "Inky can't cook to save the free world, besides I had to learn when I went to go live with my master, well mistress."

"What do you mean?" Annie looked at Raliana with a little confusion on her face.

"I was born into a very superstitious Celtic village that was rich in spirit and faith but poor in education. Many still believed in the tales that had been passed down over generations. Strange things would start to happen whenever I was around and they started to call me a baby of Mab. They wanted to burn me at the stake but my family was able to get me out of the village before that happened. They smuggled me to a hermit woman who everyone believed to be a part faery," Raliana recounted the tale to the girls while she dished out the eggs. "Her name was Raliana and she taught me almost everything I know about how to use magic, but she called it a gift of the goddess. Unfortunately she died a few years ago and the villagers that we lived near wanted me gone. They sold me to a troupe of gypsies that were passing by." Both Annie and Fi gasped in shock.

"It wasn't so bad at first," Raliana smiled. "They were really nice to me and treated me like an equal. They weren't scared of me at all. Then as the days went by it just started to get worse. I would be asked to use my powers to do bad things for them. Finally they decided to just keep me locked up in one of their caravans. They would let me out when they needed me to get them food or money or if they were having a problem with a villager."

"One day a few months ago Inky accidentally transported himself right into the middle of my caravan. I was so scared at first I hit him over the head with a bowl that I had. When he woke up I was about to cast a spell on him but he told me to wait. He said that he was a good person and that he did not mean any harm to me. I told him my whole story and what had happened to me. He agreed to help me I would promise not to hit him again with the bowl.

"So once the gypsies opened the door to the caravan he zapped them with this fireball looking thing. He then took my hand and we ran until he thought we were safe. After we were sure that we were safe he introduced himself."

"Wait a minute," Annie held up her hand to single to for Raliana to stop. "You went with him without even knowing his name."

"Well it was better then staying there and waiting for the gypsies to keep using me over and over. I was a mystic not a magician," Raliana tried to explain. "I only knew how to use certain spells. Inky taught me how to use the full range of my powers and I taught him how to focus his magic better. He also gave me my name."

"Huh?" Both Fi and Annie gave her a strange look.

"Well when I was sent to live with Raliana my parents were forced to disown me and I was no longer permitted to use the name that they gave me. Raliana never got around to naming me and the gypsies would just call me magic child all the time," Raliana looked down at her food and played with it for a while. "The day that Inky gave me my name was the happiest day of my life. I felt like I was cared about and I was allowed to be part of the world again."

"Wow," that was all Annie could say and Fi just nodded.

"Well none of that matters to me now," Raliana smiled beautifully at both of them. "I am free and I can do whatever I want, for the most part."

"For the most part? I would think with your skill you could do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted to do it," Annie was puzzled.

"Inky is my trainer now," Raliana collected the empty plates and took them to the small sink.

"And that means," Fi was in total shock. She thought that she had known the whole story behind Raliana and Incanto but they obviously left some things out. Maybe it was so that she would have the same reaction as everyone else around her. Still a lot of this was not making any sense. Even if she was in human form the Princess of the Fey should pull rank over Puck or Incanto.

"It means that I have to respect his wishes to the fullest," Raliana refused to look either Annie or Fi in the eye. "I mean I would not do something for him that would put me or others in danger but other than that he is basically my master. But not in the I Dream Of Genie sense of master."

"So is that why you didn't wear the dress I picked out for you last night," Fi asked her.

"And why you dressed like it is still 1940?" Annie added.

Raliana looked down at the dress was wearing and did not see anything wrong with it. Sure it was not the latest look but she liked it, or least she thought she liked it. The dress was a cotton apron dress with a few well paced large flora appliqués that were put on top of an off white fabric that had little flower liked dots all over it with the shoulder, neck, and straps trimmed red ribbon. "I like this dress," Raliana tried to tell them but she could see the looks of disbelieve that she was being given and sighed. "Well all of my clothes are like this."

Fi and Annie looked at each other and shook their heads. It was not hard to understand there disbelieve, they both looked like they could be on the cover of any number of rock or pop magazines. Part of the result of traveling with a rock band or growing up in a house of rock. The words that Raliana spoke were the words of someone who never even picked up a copy of a single fashion magazine, much less looked at the cover.

"Well were heading to Chicago aren't we?" Fi asked Annie.

"Yeah," Annie nodded. "It wouldn't be much of a problem. It could take a full day though."

"What are you guys talking about," Raliana looked at them nervously.

"Rye I think it is time for a makeover," Fi told her with all seriousness.

"Don't worry," Annie tried to reassure her after seeing the look of fear that she was giving both of them. "It won't hurt at all and you will probably love it."

"But what about Inky?" Raliana gave them a worried look.

'You are the Princess of the Fey! You can do whatever you want,' Fi pathed to Raliana. 'Puck has no hold over you in Fey form or human form.'

'But-'

'No,' Fi interrupted her. 'You are supposed to do what you want and what you believe in. Not what Puck or Inky wants.'

'Fiona,' Raliana could not explain what had been going on for generations, it was just the way things were. 'For now it is just the way life is, it is tradition.'

"Hello? Earth to Fi and Rye," Annie waved her hand in front of Fi's face. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah everything is fine," Fi lied. "I was just trying to think of a way to convince Rye that she did not have to act like she was walking on glass when Incanto is involved."

"It is just the way things have always been," Rye was exasperated. "In the magic community a trainee does what the trainer says without question."

"I guess the magic community hasn't heard of the women's rights movement," Fi retorted back. Annie nodded in agreement.

"Alright think of it like this," Raliana tried to think of a way to explain why she had to listen to Incanto without reveling to Annie who they really were. "Inky is the leader of a mission that we are on. Even if I had more experience then him or held a higher rank I would have to follow his order because he is the leader. If I didn't, or if someone in my position didn't it would through the whole system into chaos."

"I guess that makes sense," Annie was starting to get a very weird vibe from Rye and Fi, like they knew something that she didn't.

"Sure, fine, whatever," Fi huffed.

Raliana sighed and then she decided to sit back down with the girls at the table. "I have a trick I have been working on but you guys can't tell Inky, ok?"

"What is it?" Annie's eyes got wide with excitement.

"Well Inky would call it stealing, but it is not really. It is just get around the annoyance of actually having a job that gives you cash for working," Raliana smiled wickedly.

"So what is this trick," Fi had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. She really was not interested but it seemed like a more neutral topic to discuss then to try to convince Rye that she did not have to obey Inky's every word.

"Do you have a catalog of some sort, or something that has a picture of an item that you would like to have," Raliana glanced nervously over her shoulder. She did not want Irene to see what she was about to do. If everyone knew about this 'trick' she could get into a lot of trouble, it was considered manipulating humans on some level, even if it was only using her powers for her advantage.

"Yeah I have this months Delia's right here," Annie handed her the clothing magazine.

Raliana took the magazine and started to flip through the pages. The girls had been right, her clothes were completely different then anything that was being sold. "This are very odd," Raliana stopped at a page jean miniskirt that looked like it had been in a paint ball war.

"That one is kind of cute," Fi pointed to a sky blue t-shirt that had heat transfers of Ms. Pac Man and some ghosts on the front.

Raliana wondered what the word fitted meant but she decided that it would be better not to ask. She closed her eyes and pictured the shirt in her mind and then imagined her hand reaching out the shirt and brought it towards her. Then finally she visualized herself yanking the shirt to her reality.

"That is so wicked!" Annie yelled with excitement. Her voice startled Irene who looked over her shoulder for half a second.

"Is everything okay back there girls?" Irene questioned as she focused on the road again.

"Yeah everything is fine Irene. We are just going back to our bedroom and set it up," Fi answered before Annie had a chance to say anything. She then stood up and pulled Annie back to the bedroom with her and Raliana followed quickly grabbing the t-shirt, which had materialized in front of her.

"Annie!" Fi and Raliana screamed at her at the same time as soon as they were all safely in the bedroom.

"I know," Annie apologized hanging her head. "I was just thrown off for a moment. But you have to admit that was totally cool."

"Yeah it was," Fi agreed grinned at the other two girls. "You know we could give our room a whole new look with that little trick of yours."

"Yeah I guess," Raliana sat down on Fi's bed and handed her the t-shirt. "But what will Molly and the others say?"

"She does have a point," Annie looked kind of sad. "It would be hard to explain to Molly where we got the money to buy all new things. I mean this trick defeats the whole purpose of getting a job and earning money."

"Part of the reason Inky would flip if he found out that I have been working on it," Raliana explained. "This trick of mine throws off balance of the economy across the world."

"Whoa, slow down a second," Fi was trying to think of a way to justify using magic for personal gain. "How about this? We use magic to try on things and to see what would work in our room then when we get to Chicago we go and buy what we want. That way we aren't throwing off the balance of the economy or anything like that."

"I guess that will work," Raliana spoke with a little hesitation.

"Well we will still have to worry about money," Annie sighed a little. "And Delia's is the only catalog that I have."

"Who needs catalogs," Fi laughed. "We have access to every store we want to go to right here online."

"And we don't need to worry about money. I have some that I took away from the gypsies. I never told Inky," Raliana smiled at the evilly. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Besides you have both seen first hand how often he works for money or for anything. Most of the time he says he does not want to be paid, he just wants the privilege of performing."

Annie and Fi laughed at her and then Fi spoke up. "We promise we won't tell him."

"Yeah," Annie kept giggling. "Promise."

The girls settled down and surrounded Fi's laptop. They spent hours going from site to site having Raliana zap in and out anything that they might want. They tried on all different types of clothing and were having the time of their lives laughing and smiling. They dressed in their room in thousands of different styles. Finally when they were exhausted they each lay on a bed in the small room.

"Raliana tell us about Avalon and the Fey," Fi propped her chin up on her hands.

"Oh I love to hear stories," Annie looked at Raliana wide eyed. "Which ones do you know?"

"Rye knows all about the Third Race, well you can call them the Fey as well and the mysterious island of Avalon. She told me some the other day," Fi answered for her.

"Really," Annie sat up in her bed. "Please tell us Rye!"

"Alright," Rye sat so that both girls could see her. "What would you like to hear about?"

"Are the banshees Fey?" Fi remembered her dream from earlier.

"Yes, well in a way," Raliana tried to think of a way to explain the complex network of the Fey. "The banshees are Fey, they talk people to the afterlife but they do not decide who dies or lives. The Fates are the ones who decided, they are sisters of Oberon and aunts to the Dreamweaver, who is brother to Titania." Annie and Fi looked at her with confusion. "It is very confusing. But to simplify this matter, Oberon does not decide who lives and dies, his sisters do."

"So if the banshees where to say that they did not take someone from this world then…" Fi was trying to put the pieces together in her mind.

"It is not unheard of for other spirits to take the lives of humans," Raliana knew what Fi was getting at. "Oberon himself has been known to take life if the situation calls for it. But the most common spirit to take life is the Dark Lord."

"Who is the Dark Lord?" Annie shivered a little as she asked the question.

"He has been around as long as anyone can remember," Raliana started to tell the tale. "The Dark Lord is the ruler of all the dark spirits that live in this world and in Avalon. That is why Oberon has no control over the dark spirits. However, when Oberon declared that no Fey should ever take a life of a human. If a Fey were to have reason to take a human's life their reason would have to be approved by the Court of Avalon before any action is taken. Many spirits were enraged up by this and they deflected to the Dark Lord."

"What about Fey killing other Fey?" Annie was very interested in what Raliana had to say but she could not explain why.

"Fey do not harm other Fey, not if they are true children of Oberon. If a Fey has pledged allegiance to the Dark Lord they may be asked to kill one of their former brothers or sisters to prove loyalty, but they rarely succeed in completing their task," Raliana suddenly became very sad. "At first many Fey were lost but now they have banded together and protect each other."

"Do the Fey live forever?" Annie had so many questions that she never knew she had before. She wanted to know everything at once. "Have they always lived on Avalon?"

"If they do not come in contact with iron, it is the one weakness, they can live forever," Raliana laughed a little at Annie's enthusiasm. "And no they have not always lived on Avalon. Many moons ago Oberon order all of his children, including his wife Lady Titania, to leave Avalon for a millennium to learn a lesson in humanity."

"But then didn't the Dark Lord try to take over Avalon," Fi did not know all the history of her father's land and decided it was best she knew before she talked with Jack.

"No," Raliana shook her had. "He could not. The Dark Lord is part the Third Race and Oberon order all of the Third Race off the island. Since Avalon recognizes Oberon as its ruler it removed everyone, including the Dark Lord and his subjects."

"So the Fey lived as humans for a thousand years?" Annie took over from Fi. "What did they do? Did they marry, have children?"

Again Raliana laughed. "Well yes some of them did have children. Sometimes a Fey would get pregnant with a half human child but decided they did not want to go through the process of carrying the child so they would transfer it to a human mother. All the Fey thought that it was a perfectly wonderful way of not dealing with the responsibility of raising a child. After all if you have a Fey child you are the one who has to train the child in magic use. What they did not realize was that later it would cause problems for humans because the untrained half Fey children would leak magic everywhere they went and would cause disturbances and sometimes reek havoc."

"So what is done to stop the havoc," Fi was very interested in this part. For some strange reason she thought she and Jack were the only half Fey children but she should have known better.

"Well most of the time when problems are spotted a guardian Fey is sent to teach the child to control any gifts that they have. It is so rare that any of this children have gifts that similar to or equal in power to a normal Fey that it is not necessary to tell them about the Fey or Avalon," Raliana then winked at Fi. "After all would you really believe someone who came up to you and said that you were part fairy?"

Both Annie and Fi laughed at her, "You are asking the wrong people Rye. Right Fi?"

"For sure," Fi giggled.

Raliana shrugged and laughed with the girls. They spent the rest of their time together planning on how they would sneak away from the rest of the group to transform Rye into a product of pop culture. Then they finally reached the end of the first leg of their tripped and everyone was moved around to different busses. This gave Rye and Inky a chance to talk.

'Does she know,' Inky pathed to his fiancée

'No she does not,' Rye answered him. 'But I sense her magic is contained in some manner. She is almost as powerful as Jack and Fi but not quiet. Her magic is starting to leak through whatever shield she has.'

'Who would just put a shield around their subject,' Inky wondered. 'They would have to stay with the child forever. Or in Annie's case until she realizes that she is not aging normally after she reaches full adulthood.'

'Do you really think that will happen to her? It is very uncommon for half Fey,' Rye contemplated the situation. 'The only way for her to have such power is if her blood had a direct tie to Oberon's.'

'Well is she yours?'

'Of course not!' Rye was appalled but his question. 'I would never transfer my child to someone else.'

'How do you know that her parents aren't her real parents?'

'Because they would not let her magic develop in this manner. It is just not a Fey thing to do,' Rye told him.

'They could be subjects of the Dark Lord,' Inky pointed out to her.

'If they were there is no way the Dark Lord would let her magic go unused,' Rye countered.

'Have you sensed her guardian near her?'

'Yes,' Rye smiled in her head. 'But I cannot see him. He is hiding his form very well.'

'Sounds like one of those animal spirits,' Inky smiled wickedly at her. 'They like to be low profile.'

Rye rolled her eyes, 'We should get back to the others now.'

'Wait has Fi decided when she will tell Jack?'

'No, but I have a feeling it will be soon,' Rye gave Inky a hopefully look. 'Be patient love.'

'Aren't I always?' Inky let out a little laugh. 'Come let us join the others.'

*****  


Finally the Molly Phillips tour reached their hotel in Chicago. They had called ahead to make sure that extra rooms had been reserved so that the rooms could be split up equally between the teens. The boys and girls got suites so that no one would have to share beds. Molly got her own room, a first for her in a long time, but it had an adjoining door to the girls' suit, and Irene and Ned had their own room. 

The next day while the crew and band were setting up the girls told Molly that they wanted to go to the Gurnee Mills Mall. She agreed as long as they promised that they would not spend too much money. They agreed and Rye zapped them to the mall, who wanted to wait for a taxi when magic could get where you wanted to go twice as fast.

Hours later after shopping in almost every store the girls returned to the hotel with bags upon bags of clothing, bedding, and other accessories. They were laughed and singing songs that they had heard played over the mall radio when they ran into the guys. At first everyone just stared at each other. Finally someone spoke.

"What have you done to yourself!" Inky yelled at Raliana.

"You don't like it," Raliana was upset by his reaction since it was the exact opposite of Jack and Carey's.

"You look, you look. I can't even find words!"

"Inky chill!" Fi scolded him. "Rye is only dressed like any normal person would be."

"Your hair. Her hair," Inky pointed to Rye's head. "Is this your doing?" He asked accusingly of Fi.

Raliana felt her hands start to shake with anger and then slowly a bright ball of blue energy started to form in front of her. She looked at Incanto with hurt and anger and then threw the ball of energy at his feet. A hole appeared in the ground in front of him and Raliana just glared at him for a few moments breathing heavily from using her magic. Then she dropped her shopping bags and ran away from all of them.

"Look what you have done," Fi yelled at Incanto as she and Annie turned to go after Raliana.

"What I have done," He yelled back at her. "You were the one who encouraged her to do this. If she hadn't gone and-"

"And what? Have fun? Doing something for herself for once? Not worry about what you will think every waking moment?" Fi was not going to back down. "This is the year 2001 Inky. She is free to make her own choices whether you agree with them or not."

"What is going on here?" Jack demanded of both of them. He knew that he was only getting half the story.

"Your friend Inky here is repressing Raliana's rights. He thinks that just because he is her trainer and fiancé that he can be her master too, as the man rules the woman type of master," Fi looked like she was about to hit Incanto.

Jack waited for Inky to respond but he said nothing, "Is that true?"

"Well I might be a little harsh on her, but it is for her own good. She very naïve and does not know how cruel humans can really be," Incanto glared at Fi.

"She was forced to live with gypsies that kept her locked up," Annie joined in the cause to fight for Raliana's rights. "How much more cruelty does she need to experience?"

"I just want to protect her," Inky shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Well there is protection and then there is domination," Fi hissed.

"Fi," Carey finally spoke up to try to calm her. He had watched the whole scene and although he agreed with Fi he did not believe that they had the right to judge the relationship that Rye and Inky had.

Inky just stood there trying to think of a way to fix everything that had just happened. He knew he should go and apologize to Raliana but he was still mad at her for not following the rules of guardianship, she was not even supposed to be here. As a blood relative of the children she was not allowed to be part of their training but she had convinced Oberon that everything would go faster if she were there to help. Oberon had agreed let her go as long as she did everything that she was told to do and never questioned orders that were given. Now she was trying to take over the whole mission and that frustrated him more than anything. After fuming in front of everyone for another few minutes Incanto went stomping off in the opposite direction that Raliana had gone.

"Would anyone mind explaining to me why there is a hole in the ground?" Jack groaned after Incanto left.

"Raliana made it with her magic when she got mad at Inky," Annie told him. "She really could have killed him with it but she just wanted to show him that she was not going to take his attitude anymore."

"It was a rhetorical question," Jack smiled as Annie blushed a little. "Well I guess I will go talk to her and see if I can get her to at least come back to the hotel."

"Hey how come you get to talk to her," Fi demanded to know.

"Because other than Carey, I am the only here who won't take sides on this whole issue," Jack told her pointedly.

"Yeah and I have to go practice tonight's sets with Molly so that leaves Jackie boy here to play hero," Carey patted his friend on the back.

"Thanks," Jack's voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Anytime buddy, anytime," Carey laughed. "Come on ladies I will help you with your bags. Let's get back to the hotel." He held an arm out to each girl.

The girls rolled their eyes at him and then weighed his open arms down with the bags that Raliana had left. Carey groaned as they loaded him down but they started to head to the hotel. Annie held back for a moment though.

"Jack be careful okay," Annie voiced her concerns. "Rye is still really upset and she might try to take it out on you even though you aren't responsible for what happened."

"Don't worry Annie," Jack took in a breath and then smiled at her. "I have had my share of having girls taking out their frustration on me, comes with being an older brother. I'll be fine."

"Yeah but Raliana has-" Annie started to tell him about Rye's special powers but she knew that he would not believe her. "Never mind, just be careful. You saw what she did to the ground." Annie pointed to the hole and ran to catch up with Fi and Carey.

"That is just a silly magic trick," Jack told himself as he bent down to examine the hole. He touched his finger to the inside of the hole and pulled it away instantly. The ground where Rye's energy ball had it was hot and the gravel was gooey from being melted.

"It can't be," Jack shook his head as he backed away from the hole. "There has to be some other explanation. I'll just go ask Raliana what really happened to the ground. Yeah she will explain everything." Jack turned and almost ran in the direction that Raliana had taken off in.

*****  


Raliana had been tempted to transform herself into her Fey body but she held back the urge. She kept forming little balls of blue energy and throwing them around her. Watching the energy burn little holes into the ground helped her to think. She could not understand why she was letting "Incanto" get to her so much. Sighing she started to pace back and forth.

"Daughter, what troubles you so?" A wonderful deep voice asked her. Raliana smiled and turned around. She knew that voice it was unmistakable. There before her stood Oberon, her father.

"My Lord," Raliana dipped her head a little to show respect for her king. Then when he nodded at her to acknowledge her action she ran to him and hugged him tightly. She sighed a little when he stroked her hair.

"Why are you so sad Rhylinye?" Oberon was worried for his child. She should not be here on the human world but he had allowed her to journey with Puck because he knew there was no way to talk her out of it.

"It is Incanto," Rye faced her father. "Well Puck, whatever you want to call him. He has been treating me like a child while we have been here. I deserve better."

"You know how important this mission is to our people," Oberon had gone from a caring father to a concerned ruler in a matter of seconds. "The fate of all Fey rests on the whether you can convince Riconsorin's children to pledge their allegiance to the Court of Avalon and to me."

"My brother's children well pledge their allegiance to the Court of Avalon but my lord I sense that they will not pledge to you. They are angry still from their loss of their father and they blame you my Lord," Rhylinye's tone matched Oberon's, all business. As a royal she had learned that matters of the kingdom took precedence over emotions of the rulers.

"Curse the stars!" Oberon slammed his fist into a nearby tree. "I blame their human mother. What does she know of her husband's death?"

"Nothing more then we allowed her to see. She believes that her husband was a human named Rick and died a human's death," Rhylinye wanted to tell her father that Molly had done the best that she could with the children but she knew that he would not listen. It was not her place to fight the will of Avalon. "Puck told Fi everything that happened on that awful day. Fiona knows that it was her father's fault but if I were her I would feel the same way. If you were killed because you did not obey the rules of Avalon I would not pledge allegiance to the Court."

"I would hope that you would rise above such petty emotions and take charge of Avalon, keep our people together," Oberon seemed troubled. "You can not let your personal feelings get in the way of running Avalon. You have to be stronger then that."

"Yes my Lord," Rhylinye cast her eyes downward.

"Now as for Puck," Oberon smiled again. "Pay you no heed to the foolish jester of mine. I keep him around for laughs and because he is good at what he does. But he holds no rank over you even if he is the leader of this mission. You are the Princess of Avalon and do not let him forget that." Oberon touched his hand to his daughter's check.

Rhylinye basked in the warmth of her father's love. "How is my mother?"

"She is well but she complains every day that she heart sick from missing her child," Oberon laughed. "Then she gets up and finds something else to worry about." Rhylinye giggled at this, it was true that the Lady Titania never let anything dampen her spirits for too long. "Now my child I have a gift for you, well actually for the son of Riconsorin."

"Oh what is it?" Rhylinye almost jumped with excitement.

"This," Oberon held up his index finger and his thumb. Then a small silver ring appeared between them. He threw the ring to his daughter.

Rhylinye caught the ring effortlessly. She examined the piece of jewelry for a moment then she recognized where it came from. "Riconsorin's clan ring," she looked at her father questioningly. "I thought you had disposed of everything that was connected to him."

"This ring rightful belongs to his son," Oberon stated as if it was the only logical course of action. "I would have had given to him earlier but now seems like the prefect time."

Rhylinye again looked that silver ring. It had the same design that Fi and Molly's rings. The rings that were given to Riconsorin's wife and daughter hand belonged to Titania, who loved her son's family dearly, but the ring that his son would soon possess had been passed down directly from Oberon. "I will give it to him straight away."

"Good for he comes looking for you now," Oberon informed her. "Goodbye my daughter. Remember do not let Puck torment you too much," with that he disappeared.

"Raliana!" Jack called from behind her. "There you are. I have been looking everywhere for you."

Raliana turned and then walked towards him. "I am sorry. I did not mean to worry anyone."

"No, don't apologize," Jack held up his hand in protest. "You were right to be mad at Inky, and if makes any difference to you I like your new look. It suits you, not that your old one didn't, but you just seem-"

"Thank you Jack," Rye interrupted him. "I wish that Incanto was more like you sometimes. Well in some aspects. I know he is just trying to protect me but still…"

"Maybe you should talk to him about the difference between protecting and controlling?" Jack suggested to her.

"Yes, I think I will," she smiled at him. "I found something for you. I have had it around for a while now." Rye held out the clan ring that her father had given her just moments before.

Jack looked at the ring and was in total shock. It looked just like the one that Fi had. "Raliana where did you get this?" He asked her as he put the ring on his thumb.

"The mystic Raliana said that my parents gave it to her when they took me to her. She said it was the only thing that they had for me to remember them by." Rye looked that the ring on Jack's finger. "I want you to have it now. I don't need it anymore but something tells me that you might."

"Rye I can't possible accept this," Jack started to take the ring off but Raliana stopped him.

"I have no use for the ring now. Happier times have found me and the ring only reminds me of what I could have had," Rye clasped her hand around his. "Please accept it."

Jack wanted to protest but he decided not to, "Alright, but don't start asking me to care of any beloved pets or anything like that."

"Promise," Rye crossed her heart and then laughed a little.

"Come let's get back to the others," Jack held out his arm for her and she took it. "How long have you and Inky been engaged now?"

"Oh for eighteen-. Eighteen days now," Rye stammered. "We meet a few months ago. Ask Annie to tell you how we meet. I just told her and Fi the story this morning." When she spoke Annie's name Rye almost hit herself. She had not asked Oberon what he knew about the girl. She turned away and looked at the tree that Oberon had been standing next to. 'Well, I guess it doesn't matter,' she shook her head a little. 'He did not want to talk about it so we didn't.'

"Hey Rye are you okay?" Jack questioned her.

"Yeah I am fine," Raliana smiled at him. "I just have a lot on my mind that is all. Come on we better get back before they send a search party out for us." Jack laughed at her and they headed back to the hotel. 

*****  


"Listen to me Puck," Rhylinye yelled at him from the next room. "I think we might have to talk to Jack on our about this if Fi doesn't soon, I have this nagging feeling that if we let her keep putting it off that something bad will happen."

"Don't call me Puck," Incanto scolded her as he walked out of the bathroom into the main room. "Someone could hear you."

"I don't think so. They are all at the club," Rhylinye had changed back into her Fey form as soon as entered the room that Incanto was sharing with the other boys.

"What is your problem!" he yelled at her. "You change into your Fey form without knowing for sure if we are alone. Someone could walk in at any moment!"

"Don't talk to me like I am a child," Rhylinye yelled back at him. "I am Rhylinye, daughter of Oberon and Titania, the only heir to the throne of Oberon, and I don't need you!" With that she changed back into her human form of Raliana, "I'll see you at the club." She headed to the door.

Incanto grabbed her arm, "Why are you doing this? Why now? You know how important this is to everyone." He was speaking to her gently now. He knew he was wrong to yell at her when she was just trying to give him information.

"You treat me like I am a mindless object," Raliana whispered back to him. "I have all the knowledge of the Fey. I don't need to be told what to do. I tell others what to do."

"Rhylinye we are not on Avalon," he turned her so that he could she her face. "Lord knows I wish were but we are not. Here nothing is the same, especially now."

"Do you think I don't know that," Raliana spat at him. "I am more aware of the consequences then you could ever be. So why do treat me like I three years old?"

"Well right now because you are acting like it," he countered. "Before I was wrong. I am sorry. I should have not have reacted like that. It is your hair and your body."

Raliana laughed, "Oh stars you are right. I am sorry." She hugged him.

"There is a lot of stress in this mission," he told her as he held her close to him. "I am happy that you are here to help me. I don't think I could do this without you."

"Hello, that is it the whole reason I made you take me with you," Rye laughed at him. "But I am worried about how long it is taking to tell Jack what is going. We have to make sure Fi tells Jack as soon as possible."

"Well the only thing we can do is to talk to Fi and ask her to him," Inky sighed. He started to pace back and forth in the room, "Oberon told you nothing about Annie?"

"I uh, I kinda forgot to ask him," Raliana cringed a little.

"You forgot or he made you forget?"

"Don't know, don't care," Raliana gave him a guilty look. "I am starving I can't help it!"

"Okay. Let's go find everyone else. We need to talk to Fi anyway," Incanto sighed. "Things are starting to get very complicated."

Rye nodded but she did not say anything. After a moment she held out her hand and he took it. They had made a silent pack in that moment that no matter what happened they would always be there for each other. She smiled at him and with that they left the room.

As soon as the door closed a little light became visible to the eye. It flitted about the room in an angry and chaotic pattern. "Stupid princess and her beloved Puck," the wisp cursed them as he circled the room. "They should be at each others throats calling for blood!"

'But they aren't,' the voice of his Lord entered his mind.

"I am sorry my Lord. This is going to be harder than I thought," the wisp apologized fearfully to the Dark Lord. "Their bond is very strong. I did not anticipate this."

'Well it looks like we are going to have to figure out another way to get to the children of Riconsorin,' the Lord thought for a moment. 'For now just observe them. I want them to be fully trained there is no need to waste time with something silly like that when the Princess and her fiancé are doing our work for us.'

"Yes master," the wisp faded into the darkness again.

*****  


"Oh sorry," Annie told the person whom she just bumped into. 'Look before you leap they always say. I think I need to work on look before I walk first,' she groaned mentally.

"It's okay," Jack laughed. "I wasn't looking where I was going either. Hey have you seen Raliana and Incanto around?"

"No, not since they were fighting?" Annie shrugged. "I hope that they will be alright. It would be awful if they broke up or something."

"I don't think we need to worry about that," Jack pointed to Raliana and Incanto who were heading toward them.

"Hey guys," Rye smiled at them. "I am starving! When are we going to eat?"

"Boo!" Fi called out as she came behind Jack and Annie.

"I tried to stop her," Carey apologized to the others.

"Hello! Starving girl here," Rye did not pay attention to a word that anyone was saying. "If I don't get some food soon I will wither up and die!"

"Okay we get the point," Fi laughed at her friend. "Jeez you would think that you were pregnant or something."

"Ha, ha," Rye faked her laughter. "Can we just drop the antics and find your parents so we get figure what is going on for dinner."

"We're going, we're going," Jack chuckled as he started to lead everyone to where he last saw his mother. Everyone was so busy laughing at Raliana that they did not notice a strange light head toward Annie. All of the sudden Annie started to waver.

"Annie," Jack grabbed her hand as he tried to steady her. "Annie are you okay?" She did not hear him, instead she slumped against him. "Annie!"

"Annie please wake up," Fi pleaded with her friend as helped Jack lay Annie on the ground.

"I'll go get help," Carey ran off to find someone.

"Annie you are gonna be okay," Jack held her head in his lap. He was not sure if he was trying to reassure himself or her. "You are gonna be just fine Annie, just hang on. We are getting help."

Raliana looked at Incanto with horror as they watched the scene before them unfold. They both knew what this meant. It meant that the Dark Lord was getting closer and things were only going to get worse.

Author's Note: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes.

Updates show up here faster: [ http://members.fortunecity.com/annabellefic/][1]

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	5. Wake Up Sleepy Hearts

Wake Up Sleepy Hearts

Disclaimer: I own only Raliana, Rhylinye, and anyone else that you do not see normally. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please!

One In A Million – Chapter 5  
_by Annabelle_

"I have done as you asked my lord," a female voice spoke in a husky tone. "The girl is sleeping now and she will never wake unless Rhylinye reveals her magic to the rest of the people."

"You have done well by me Kaila," the Dark Lord let a smirk come across his face. He looked at young wisp who had just recently joined his factions. He sat with his robes folded neatly around him on a throne. If a normal person walked in and saw him sitting there they would have thought that he was some type of demon and been scared mindless. They would probably die from fright.

"I could have done a much better job," Bricru hissed at his younger cousin. Kaila had only been allowed to join the forces of darkness because he had stood up for her. Now he wished he never spoke her name.

"Yes you could have," the Lord looked at Bricru. "I am sure that you would have not left before finding out who that girl was and why she is being protected, leaving Rhylinye to find out all of this information instead of us," he looked accusingly at Kaila.

"My Lord, I do not understand. I followed your instructions to the letter," Kaila was becoming flustered. "I distracted her guardian and then attacked her, I did not even try to take over her body."

"You did, didn't you," then his smiled faded. "But you did not do your job the right way Rhylinye has the access to the information that is suppose to be mine! So now we are going to have to wait before we find out and lose the advantage that we could have had!"

"My Lord," Kaila stammered, "I did not realize."

The Dark Lord rose from his throne; his red and black robes swirled around him in a furious manner. The look that he was giving Kaila would have killed a weaker soul but the young wisp just watched him with terror. "No you did not realize," he spoke in a harsh threatening voice. "And because you did not think this plan will fail. You have done nothing but cause more trouble and now you will pay for your actions." He reached out and pulled the wisp's life force closer to him, "I bet you do not even belong here," he whispered to her. "I bet you were sent here to try to figure out what I am doing. Well you will never get to tell now will you?"

"Please my Lord," Kaila begged. "I serve you and only you."

"Well that is the way it will be from now on," he laughed menacingly. "Guards!"

With in seconds dark figures dressed in the same red and back as their master appeared. They all had long swords hanging from their sides and the amour that they wore was tinted black. All of them stood at attention waiting for their master's orders.

"Take this troublesome wisp out of my site. Make sure she has a slow death," he smiled slowly as the guards used magic to form a small cage around Kaila. "I want to get information out of her as to who sent her to us."

"Aye! And let your kind know that they are not welcome here," Bricru shouted after her as she was taken away. "It is so hard this days to find good traitors."

"Bricru!" The Dark Lord's voice boomed across the room.

"Yes my Lord," the wisp's voice wavered a bit.

"We will stick to our plan of having you watch our friends. Do not take any action unless I tell you," the Lord's voice turned ruthless again. "If you fail me again I will consider you a traitor to the dark forces and then you will face a fate far worse then Kaila's. Now get out of my site!" With a wave of his hand a grayish vortex appeared behind Bricru.

"I will not fail you my Lord," Bricru yelled as he was being pulled into the vortex. "You have my word!"

*****

"Oh Annie," Jack whispered her name as he stroked her hair. He looked down at her pale unmoving form and his heart almost broke. How could this be happening and why now?

'We need to help her,' Rye pathed to Inky. 'This is the work of the Dark Lord, I know it.'

'What about her guardian,' Inky was a little hesitant. 'He should be here taking care of her. What happened to him?'

'I don't know and frankly I don't care. I am going to fix this with or without your help,' Rye rushed to Annie's side. She looked at Fi and nodded when the girl gave her a questioning look. 'I am going to help her but I need your help too okay,' she asked her niece.

'Yes of course,' Fi responded urgently. 'Just tell me what to do.'

'Join one of your hands with mine and the hold the other over her body,' Raliana held up one of her hands palm out towards Fi and the other palm down just inches about Annie's body.

"What are you doing," Jack's voice was full of worry.

'Don't be scared Jack,' Fi sent the mental message to her brother. 'We are just trying to help her.'

Jack almost jumped when he heard Fi's voice in his head. He felt his head start to spin as she entered his mind again, 'Just hold Annie still and be with her. Make sure that no one interrupts us, Rye and I may get lost if the trance is broken before it is completed.'

Jack had no choice but to watch as both Fiona's and Raliana's hands started to glow, then Annie's body was covered in the same iridescent glow. The glow intensified until it was almost painful for him to look at, then he saw Annie's body take in a sharp breath. She tensed up but as the glow started to fade away she relaxed again. Jack looked at Fi and Rye as they came out of their trance.

"What did you do?" Jack was in total shock.

"Raliana was raised by a mystic and learned how to do all kinds of healing spells. She taught me some of them," Fi smiled weakly at her brother. Just then Raliana began to tremble a bit and it looked as if she was going to collapse on top of Annie. "Rye! Rye are you alright?"

"She is fine," Inky spoke for Rye as he helped her to her feet. "Doing something like this just takes a lot out of her."

"What are we going to tell mom when she and the others get here," Fi asked no one in particular.

"We will just tell her that Annie collapsed and we don't know why," Inky answered. "Besides if she brings a doctor he might be able to tell us why this happened."

"I know what happened," Rye spoke weakly.

"What do you mean?" Jack started to question her but then his mom and the others arrived with a doctor.

"Jack, Fi, what's happened?" Molly looked down at Annie's body with worry written all over her face.

"We don't know mom," Fi started to explain. "One minute she was fine then the next she started to look like she was dizzy and she just collapsed."

The doctor bent over Annie for a few moments and took her vitals, "She is fine. She is just resting right now. I would take her up to her room and let her sleep until morning."

Rye looked at the doctor for a moment like she recognized him. Then she shook her head and leaned her body against Inky's. She was so tired, fighting to bring Annie back had taken a lot out of her but she could not figure out why. Fighting the dark ones had never made her tried before.

"I'll take her up to bed," Jack volunteered as he stood up picking Annie up in his arms.

"Jack I don't know," Molly started to speak.

"It's okay Mrs. Phillips, I'll help him," Rye spoke up trying not to sound as tired as she felt. "I was going to go upstairs anyway to lay down."

Molly did not seem very sure of the whole situation but when she looked at Raliana's eyes she started to change her mind, "Well, alright."

Rye smiled and stood on the other side of Jack and let him lean some of Annie's weight against her. Inky laughed them slightly. "What?" Rye asked him giving him the evil eye.

"Oh just this," Inky waved is hand, there was a flash of light and then everyone found themselves standing in the girls' suite.

Everyone looked around themselves stunned for a moment but they went outside the room so that they could talk to the doctor more about what happened to Annie. Rye pulled down the blankets so that Jake could lay her down in the bed. She smiled at how gently he was handling Annie, as if the girl would break at any moment. Once Annie was safely in bed Rye snapped her fingers so that the girl's day clothes were turned into nightwear. Then she pulled the covers up over Annie and for some odd reason felt the compulsive need to kiss her on the forehead.

"What did you mean earlier when you said that you knew what happened to Annie," Jack took Annie's hand in his and then looked at Raliana who had changed into a long nightgown that almost dragged on the floor and looked very heavy.

"Annie has a guardian but for some reason her guardian was tricked into not watching her for a moment and then was trapped somewhere so he could not help her when she needed him," Raliana explained as she pulled two chairs up to the bed, one for her and one for Jake. "I don't know exactly why anyone would want to do something like that, but I know it was something dark."

"How did you," Jack started to ask but then his left-brain functions started to take over. "I just don't believe that you and Fi could fix this. I mean how could you?"

Rye smiled at him, "I have a gift Jack and so does your sister. I know you don't believe in that kind of stuff but don't you remember that time when Fi was lost in the woods." Rye paused in frustration, "You sent a message to Fi using telepathy. And then when Fi and I were helping Annie she sent one to you. You heard her I know did."

"I don't know what you are talking," Jack tried to lie.

"Jack!" Rye was about to say something more but then the door opened up and Fi, Carey, and Inky came rushing in.

"Is there any change," Fi rushed to stand next Rye.

"No, she is just sleeping," Jack looked down at Annie who was starting to get some color back in her face.

'You were about to tell him weren't you,' Fi pathed the angry message to Rye.

'Well yes,' Rye's mind hissed back at her. 'As his aunt it is my right. Besides what happened tonight with Annie is a good example of what could happen by keeping the truth from him much longer. Jack's magic didn't do this but Annie's guardian was distracted by Jack's magic and that is why he stopped protecting Annie for half a second.'

'Wait,' Fi was totally confused now. 'Annie has a guardian? Why?'

'I don't know,' Rye was frustrated again, 'I was trying to find out while we were helping her but her guardian would not say anything, stupid animal guardians. They act like they can't understand us but I know they can, and they know that I know.' Then Rye's head started to spin, 'Oh that hurts!'

"Rye lie down, please. You are starting to worry me," Fi took her by the arm and helped to the bed.

"She will be fine," Inky took Rye's hand away from Fi. "Won't you my dear."

Rye tried to smile at Fi, "I just need to rest a minute. It's okay everyone really. Jack can watch over me while he is here with Annie."

"Hey guys," Molly spoke in a hushed tone as she entered the room. "I just finished talking to the doctor and he reassured me that everything will be fine. We should just keep on eye on Annie for the next couple of days and let her rest for now."

"I want to stay with her," Jack voice sounded resolute and determined.

"Jack, honey. I don't think that," Molly started to say but then Rye interrupted her.

"I am going to be here anyway Mrs. Phillips. I wanted to lie down for awhile," Raliana smiled sweetly at Molly. "I won't let anything happen to them."

"Rye," Fi protested. She did not like the idea of her brother getting closer to Annie then he already was, it would just make it harder on him.

"Why don't you and Carey go get us some food and then we can all still eat together," Rye gave her a look that told her just to agree with her on this one.

"That's a good idea," Molly was starting to sound a little bit like she was in a trance. "Irene, Ned, and I already at with the band. We were gonna find you and give you money so that you could order something or get something from the restaurant downstairs."

"Food," Rye said weakly. "All I ask is for some food."

"Alright drama queen," Inky laughed and kissed her hand. "I will have Fi and Carey get you some food. I have to go have a meeting with someone though. Do you think you will be okay without me for the rest of the night?"

Rye sighed heavily, "I think I'll make it."

"Good," Inky kissed her on the forehead and chuckled. "Keep on an eye on her for me Jack?" Jack nodded and lnky looked at Rye one last time. "See you tomorrow my love." With that he and Molly exited the room.

"Is there anything else you Rye, besides food?" Fi asked before she and Carey headed out.

"Nope," Rye shook her head and bounced into her bed. "I will be waiting for you to come back. Please for the love of the stars hurry!"

"How about you Jack," Fi questioned her brother.

"Nothing, thanks sis," Jack forced a smile.

"Come on Fi," Carey knew that Fiona did not want to leave her brother and her friend but he also knew that Jack needed sometime alone with Annie. "We better get going."

Fi sighed a little bit. She looked over her at her brother one last time. Her heart went out to him, not only because of what happened tonight, but because what was going to happen. 'I'll tell him,' Fi pathed to Rye. 'Tomorrow morning after Annie wakes up.'

'Alright,' Rye replied.

"Okay let's hit the road," Fi looked at Carey and they left the room. Fi lead the way down the hallway to the elevator and pressed the down button. She did not brother to look at Carey; she was so lost in thought.

"Fi, are you okay?" Carey touched her shoulder gently.

Fi jumped back like she had been touched by an electric eel, "Don' do that Carey! Jeez you scared me!"

"Sorry," Carey gave her a lopsided smile. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yeah I am fine," Fi nodded. "I guess the healing spell that we did on Annie just wore me out a little."

"Huh?"

Fi realized that Carey had not been there when she and Rye were helping Annie, "Oh, well Rye and I did this healing trance on Annie, to get her back. It took a lot of Rye, that's why she is so tired now. I guess I am a little tired too."

"Healing trance," Carey had a little disbelieve in his voice. True he had seen some pretty remarkable things when he went on his adventures with her or Annie, but neither of them had ever gone into a trance or anything like that.

"Something Rye taught me how to do," Fi sighed a little. "It is hard to explain, you kind of have to be there."

He nodded, "And there is nothing else brothering you?"

Fi started to nodded her head but then she decided to open up, "I am just worried about Jack. I mean I know that he and Annie are friends, but I didn't think that. Well I mean I know he likes her but…"

"You didn't think that he liked her in that way," Carey laughed a little. "Well he and she haven't admitted yet but it looks like it."

"This is bad. Very bad," Fi shook her head, which made Carey laugh even more. "What? It is bad."

Carey shook his head, "You know your mother said the same thing when I told her the other day."

"See," Fi was confident now. "If mom thinks it is bad then it can't be good."

"Fi why do you think it is a bad idea," Carey wondered how much mother and daughter thought alike.

"It's just that, well it's more like. I don't know how to explain it. It is just not a good idea for Jack to get close to Annie, or anyone for that matter," Fi almost bit her tongue when she realized what she had said. She basically just gave away the secret that was supposed to keep.

"Why anyone?" Carey was confused by what she was saying. "You aren't making any sense you know. Your brother is going to get involved with someone. Wouldn't you rather it be with someone you are friends with."

Fi had to find a way to cover for herself and quickly, "Carey you saw what happened to night, Annie could have died. I mean what happens when Annie goes back home or if something else bad happens to her? Jack would not be able to handle it. He was so upset when he and Gabe broke up, I just don't want him to get hurt again. Relationships are just a bad idea, they equal pain." Fi was highly convinced of what she was saying. For her and Jack having a relationship with anyone before they decided to go to Avalon was not a good thing. It was just the way things were, she could not fully explain it to Carey, otherwise he would find out about her family secret.

"Fi relationships do not equal pain," Carey told her seriously as they entered the elevator. He pressed he first floor button and then looked at her. "I think you are just a little scared of them that's all, and that's okay. I mean your never saw what a wonderful relationship your dad and mom had, you only saw the pain that your mom went through after he died. I can understand where you got your idea from but it is wrong, I mean just look at my Mom and Dad or Rye and Inky."

"You just don't understand," Fi sighed and tried to walk out of the elevator but Carey grabbed her arm. "Carey what are you doing? We have to get some food in Raliana, she really needs it right now."

"And we will get her food, but first there is something I want show you," Carey took her hand in his and lead her towards the doors of the hotel. "Come on, this will only take a few minutes. I promise."

Fi groaned but allowed herself to be lead. What could he possible have to show and why did they have to go outside to see it? Her brain wanted to protest this deviance from their plan but she was really just too tired to care.

*****

She had been sleeping but had not even realized that she had fallen asleep. It was only when she saw a panther with yellow eyes come up to her did she realize what was going on. "Why are you doing this," Rye asked him. "Why are you protecting her?"

"Because that is what I was told to do," the panther replied.

"Told by whom," Rye demanded. "Does she know?"

"No, she does not know the true reason I protect her. Just the one that I have told her," his voice was so mysterious. "I cannot tell you who told me to protect her. I have been sworn to secrecy."

"She is Fey," Rhylinye pointed out to him. "As the princess of the Fey I have the right and privilege to know why one of my subjects is being protected."

The panther gave her a sleepy look, "She is Fey but you have no rights here. I do not take my orders from Oberon or Avalon. I take them from a different being."

"There is no being more powerful then my father, not even the dark lord," Rye told him angrily. "My family overrides any other being that could have given you these orders."

"Trust me Princess you do not want to know why I have be placed in charge of this child," the panther slunk around her.

"Then tell me why you have not taught her how to control her magic yet," Rye wanted some kind of answer.

"I am not exactly in the position to teach anyone about magic," the panther lifted his paw. "If you want to teach her be my guest."

"You are not in a position to teach or just too lazy," Rye was indigent now. "I don't want her to get hurt again because her destiny has been declared so I will teach her."

The panther tilted his head at her, "What do you mean her destiny has been decided? You do not even know who she is."

"I don't," Rye nodded, "but the Fates do. They have declared it to me because it involves my kinsman."

The spirit guardian waited a beat, "Well are you going to tell me?"

"Why should I," Rye sounded a bit like a spoiled child. "You won't tell who she. I think it is fair trade."

"I have my orders," the panther sounded wise and it irritated Rye to no end.

"And I have mine," Rye replied. "You will tell her that I am going to teach her. She is still your responsibility. But wait until after Puck and I start training Jack."

At the mention of Puck's name the panther started to tense up. His action did not go unnoticed by Rye but she was bored with him so she shook her head and returned to her body.

"Oh the pain," Rye spoke loudly as she awoke from her uninformative dream. "My stomach feels like it's eating itself."

Jack was a little startled by her sudden movements but he laughed it off, "Well it has been awhile since Fi and Carey left. I didn't think it took that long to get some food."

Raliana's eyes went big all of the sudden. Carey and Fi went to get food; oh this was so not a good thing. She had to get to them before something happened. "Not good, not good at all," she muttered as she stood up and snapped her fingers to change into some normal clothes.

"What is not good at all," Jack titled his head in confusion.

Raliana whipped her head around to look at him. She had forgotten that he was in the room. "Um, well that they are taking so long," she lied. "I am going to find them and see what the hold up is."

"Okay," Jack laughed at her again as she exited the room quickly to go find his friend and sister. "She must be really hungry." 

Jack sighed as he looked back at Annie. There had been no change in her condition since they came back to her room. He did not really expect to see any but he half hoped that there would be something. That she would wake up and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

'It will be okay Jack. There is something that she needs to see now, but she will be fine,' a mysterious voice popped into his head. 

He almost fell off his chair when he heard it but he managed to regain his balance before he hit the floor. "Who said that," he shouted out to the room. There was no reply. Jack turned his head to scan the room but he did not see anything. Then he heard whimpers come from Annie.

Her body was totally tensed up and she was starting to thrash around the bed. Her face was scrunched up in pain and her lips were pursed so tightly together that they were almost white. She had ripped her hand from his and was mumbling something that he could not quite make out.

"Annie," Jack touched her head. "Annie it is okay." She did not hear him and kept tossing around in the bed. "Come on Annie you have to wake up. Wake up Annie."

Annie's mind was lost in a nightmare and she did not respond to him. Then she started to speak more clearly, "No! No don't do this!"

"Annie please wake up," Jack started to shake her a little.

"Please don't take him! Stop this! Why are you doing this!" tears were streaming down her face now.

"Annie wake up!" Jack watched helplessly unable to wake her.

"Don't take him, please. Jack! Jack don't let them do this! Don't leave me! Jack don't leave me!" Annie was hysterical now. "Jack don't let them take you! Fight this!" Annie sat straight up in the bed and opened her teary eyes. She saw Jack sitting there looking at her and she threw her arms around him. She was crying with such force that it shook her body.

"Shh, it's okay now," Jack tried to comfort her as he held her closely to him. "I am not going anywhere. I promise."

Annie sobbed for a few more minutes but then she started to calm down. "It was horrible," she whispered to him. She did not move from him when she spoke, instead she nestled closer to him.

"What happened?" he asked her gently turning his head so that he could look at her.

Annie eyes looked at him sadly and with fear, "It is hard to explain. I was having this dream and it was like I was Raliana, only not. I mean it was her but everyone called her Rhylinye and she was daughter of Lord Oberon of the Fey. Inky was there too, but everyone called him Puck."

"Was I Inky, ah Puck," Jack had to keep himself from laughing. What she was saying sounded absolutely ridiculous. But then dreams were just figments of the imagination, and this one had obviously scared Annie a lot.

"No," Annie told him thoughtfully. "You were someone else." She closed her eyes to think for a moment. "You were the Lord Monoceros."

Jack pulled away from her and looked at her doubtfully, "Annie, Monoceros is a constellation."

"Jack," Annie pouted at him as she leaded her body up against the headboard.

"Okay, okay. I am sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood.," Jack moved to sit next her on the bed and put his around her shoulder. "Why don't you finish telling me what happened?"

"Take your shoes off," she told him.

"What?"

"If you are going to sit on my bed take your shoes off. I don't want to you to get dirt all over my bed," Annie told him pointedly.

Jack sighed and took his shoes off and then sit next to her again, "So what happened?"

Annie started to shiver a little, "It was awful. Raliana, well Rhylinye, she was in love with Monoceros. They had been seeing each other secretly for awhile."

"Why secretly," Jack pulled her a little closer him and rubbed her arm, he though that she was shivering because she was cold.

"Rhylinye was engaged to Puck, from birth. She loved him, he would make her laugh, but she was never in love with him," Annie stopped for a moment. "He hurt her. He would do things with other Fey. She threatened to tell her father but then Puck starting hitting her. She couldn't stop him," Annie started to sob again. Jack pulled her in closer to him. "He had done something to her, something that allowed him control her powers. So that she wouldn't be able to use her powers against him. And he kept hitting her over and over." Annie had to stop, tears were choking up her throat.

"Annie," Jack was worried about her. "You don't have to keep going."

"No," Annie wiped her eyes. "It wasn't all bad. After Puck had knocked her unconscious Monoceros found her. He took her back to his castle and helped her get well again. At first Rhylinye didn't trust him, her parents had told her that he was even though he was Fey he was different from everyone else, but then she started to see things in him that she never saw in Puck. He was so kind, gentle, and caring that she started to fall in love with him. But she had to go back to Oberon's palace before guards were sent out after her. 

"Once she was back at home, things with Puck started to get worse. So she would sneak away every day to go see Monoceros. They began to have a relationship together and they were happy."

"And no one ever found out," Jack asked her in a quite voice.

"They were going to tell everyone on a very important night," Annie stopped again. "I don't know why it was so important. I am not sure what happened."

"Well it didn't sound good, you were screaming, begging them not to take me away from you," Jack stopped when she gave him a funny look. "I mean Monoceros, but you said my name."

Annie laughed a little, "That was part of the reason the dream was so strange. Sometimes I would call you Monoceros sometimes Jack. You would call me Rhylinye or Annie. It was very odd."

"Well it is just a dream," Jack replied. "I mean look at how happy Raliana and Incanto are. I don't think that Inky would every hurt her and she trusts him with her life."

Annie was hesitant but then she nodded in agreement. Then she looked in Jack's eyes, there was something there that had not been there before, she recognized it from her dream, or at least she hoped she did. "How long have you been here?" her voice was a little shaky because as much as she wanted to know she was still a little scared to know.

"Oh you know, for a while," Jack tried to act like it had not been long at all but he knew that she wasn't going to buy it. "Raliana said that she needed help looking after you so I volunteered. You know taking care of you isn't the easiest job in the world, ouch!" Annie had hit him playfully. "This is the thanks I get for being at your bedside every waking moment? Memo to self: when Annie goes unconscious do not volunteer for beside duty."

Annie laughed a little, "I am sorry. Thank you very much for looking after me." She smiled up at him.

"No problem," Jack returned her smiled and looked at her face. There were a few stray strands of hair that was covering part of her check. He gently reached out and tucked them behind her ear.

'Kiss her,' a little voice inside his head called out to him. It was not the same voice from earlier but he thought the recognized it. Even though he was trying to figure out where the voice was coming from he did not break eye contact with Annie. 

'Kiss her!' the voice was more forceful this time, letting him know that it would not be ignored. So Jack decided that he would heed the voice. He leaned in slowly to see if Annie would pull away but she did not. It seemed to both of them like it took eternity for him to close the distance between their lips but once he had they were in totally bliss.

*****

"Yes! It worked! It worked," Rye started to jump up and down in the empty elevator. She was so excited that her planned worked.

After she left Jack and Annie alone she waited a few minutes, then she peeked into Jack's mind to see what was going on. It was rather boring to her, they were just sitting on the bed together talking about how long Jack had been there. Rye wanted to rush back into the room and say, since you decided to join the world of vegetables. But she decided to do something that would be far more amusing to her. So she waited for the right moment and then started sending the mental messages to Jack.

Rye was so pleased with herself that she was grinning like a Cheshire cat and did not notice that the elevator had reached the first floor of the hotel. When the doors opened Rye's smile quickly faded because she remembered the reason that she had left her room, Fi and Carey.

"Oh, oh," Rye stomped her foot. "This is not good. I can't believe I forgot. I have to find her, now!" She ran out of the elevator and started to look around the hotel frantically.

*****

Carey dragged Fi out past the cars and behind the hotel. They were far enough away from the artificial lights of the hotel and parking lot that they could see the night sky clearly. Fi looked up at the night school and then sighed.

"Why did you bring me out here Carey," Fi asked him. "I am freezing. I didn't even bring a coat.

Carey rubbed her arms a little to try to warm her up, "I am sorry. I wasn't really thinking. But there is something that you need to see."

"Well why did I have to come all the way outside on this cold, cold night to see it," Fi asked him. "Look I can even see my breath," she blew some air out of her mouth and watched the white cloud form in the air.

Carey gave her a lopsided smile. He stood behind her but kept one arm around her in order to keep her from getting frostbite. He used is other arm to point up to the stars, "Do you see that group of stars over there?"

"Yeah," Fi's eyes followed Carey's arm. Fi knew which constellation it was but she wanted to hear what Carey had to say.

"That is Andromeda," Carey lowered his arm and started to rub hers again. "Do you know the story of Andromeda?"

"Wasn't she chained to a rock to because her mother was so vain?" Fi half shuddered. The idea that gods could be that vengeful scared her. Rhylinye had told her that the Fey came to power when people stopped believing in the ancient Greek Gods. They still existed but they were no where near as powerful and Zeus and many of the others had to answer to Oberon now. She thanked her lucky star that this happened, who knows what Gods she could have managed to upset by now if they were still roaming about.

"Yes, in order to save her father's kingdom of course. Her father chained her to a rock as an offering to the sea monster that was coming to destroy his lands. But the great hero Perseus saw Andromeda when he was flying on Pegasus and he went to save her. He killed the sea monster and freed the Princess and took her hand in marriage," Carey decided to leave off the part where Perseus ended up killing his father with a disc because he did not see how that was going to be relevant to what he was trying to prove to Fi.

"So?" Fi failed to see what he was trying to get to.

"So, love does not always equal pain. Andromeda and Perseus had a happy life. He rescued her from that sea monster," Carey felt like he was stating the obvious.

"Yeah after she was chained to a rock because of something her mother said. If I were that king I would have chained the mother to the rock and hope for the best. But then again the father obviously did not care about his daughter that much," Fi felt sorry for Andromeda.

"But she meet the love of her life," Carey protested.

"Because she had to be saved from a sea monster!" Fi whipped around and looked at Carey. "You are not going to convince me that just because this poor girl was saved from a monster by this hero type, who probably went and got himself killed later, love does not cause pain. I mean if he did die later on where did that leave her? She probably had two kids and no way to take care of them until she remarried some lesser guy who ruined her kingdom. And then-"

Fi couldn't speak, not that she really wanted to. Carey had silenced her by placing his mouth on hers and wrapped his arms around her to draw her closer. At first she was in total shock, but then she when she realized what was happening discovered that she was enjoying it, so she relaxed. Maybe Carey was right. Love was not painful.

"No!" a scream caused them to break apart. "Help me," Raliana's voice called out to them from a few feet away.

"Rye!" hearing her friend's voice brought crashing down to reality, she should not be there with Carey. "Oh Rye," Fi put on a false front of concern, she was really slightly angry with Raliana. "Are you okay?"

"Food," was the only thing Rye, her voice was a little scratchy and weak.

Carey laughed, "I think she is fine."

"I would have been better if you guys just brought me food," Rye started to try to get up. "Ouch!"

"What's wrong?" Fi tried to sound concerned.

"I tripped on something," Rye told them as she fell back to the ground. "I think I sprained my ankle."

Carey helped her up, "You can put your weight on me. Don't try to walk okay?"

Rye grunted when her foot touched the ground, "I am not going to make it back to the hotel."

"Fi why don't you go back for help. I'll stay here with Raliana," Carey told her, Fi nodded and started to take off.

"No need," Raliana stopped her. She leaned her weight one foot and tried to stand up as straight as possible. "Stand near me."

"Rye I don't that you should," Fi scarcely got the words out of her mouth when a flash came and they found themselves all back in the hotel lobby. She quickly looked over at Rye who started to collapse.

Carey was still standing next to her and caught her before she hit the ground, "I think you should go get some food. I'll take her back up stairs."

"Food," Rye mumbled a little and then passed out again.

"Rye wake up! I know you are faking this," Fi started to hit Rye's face. "Magic doesn't take this much out of you."

"Ow! Stop doing that. I really did pass out, I was kind of enjoying it to, sleep is good," Rye tried to make Fi laugh but she was not taking the bait. "We'll go get food and then we will all go back to the room, deal?"

"Fine," Fi agreed reluctantly. She knew that she should talk with Carey but she also knew that she wasn't ready to. "Let's just get this over with." Fi walked away from them and headed to the hotel restaurant.

"Fi, I am sorry," Rye called after her. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything. Fi!" Fi just kept walking away. "What's up with her?"

"I don't know," Carey lied. "We better go catch up."

"Yeah," Rye felt bad. She knew what was wrong, but there was nothing she could do about it. 'We have to talk about this Fi,' she pathed to her friend. No response came, 'Fi you can't ignore me forever you know. We are going to talk about this.'

'Leave me alone,' Fi yelled back at her. Her mind voice was full of anguish.

Rye sighed to herself, "This is going to be a long night."

"Why do you say that," Carey asked her a little confused.

"I can just feel it," Rye didn't look at him. She watched as Fi talked to some of the wait staff from the restaurant.

*****

"Come one I am going to starve to death soon," Rye walked down the hall to the suite ahead of Carey and Fi. Fi was still being really quiet and did not say anything to either one of them.

Once they were closer Rye threw open the door and everyone was shocked to see Annie and Jack quickly pull apart from what had obviously been a kiss. Carey stood in the doorway with his mouth opened and Fi looked like she was about to loose it.

Rye on the other hand smiled at them, "You're up! I bet you're hungry. We have food, you can share mine." She walked into the room and placed the bags of restaurant take out on a near by table.

"What!" Fi stormed up to her and looked at her with angry eyes. "That's it? You're up, are you hungry? That's all you are going to say!"

"Fi," Rye started to speak quietly.

"Oh no," Fi yelled at her. "I don't think so. You are not going to Fi me. I am out of here!" With that Fi ran out of the room and down the hall.

"Fi wait," Rye ran to the door.

"Excuse me," Carey was totally lost. "What just happened here?"

"I am going to talk to Fi," Rye told him. "You guys just stay here and have dinner. I'll be back soon." Rye took off after Fiona.

"So you and Annie," Carey give the two a sly smile and Annie blushed. Jack just groaned and got up to take out the food.

*****

"Fi!" Rye called out to her. "Fi, we have to talk!" No one responded. "You can't run away from me. I know where you are!"

Rye transported herself to stand right in front of her friend and niece. "Fi, look I am really sorry this had to happen this way," Raliana started to apologize.

"What?" Fi was still extremely angry about what was going on. "The fact that you have known from day one that Jack liked Annie and you didn't do a thing about it? That you let this happen and didn't freak about it, but when Carey kissed me you stopped it by pretending to twist your ankle! You think sorry is just going to make up for all of that?"

Raliana looked at Fiona with sad eyes. "Fi, I don't expect you to understand all at once but there is a reason why Puck and I didn't do anything about Jack and Annie."

"Oh really," Fi snarled at her. "And what is that reason?"

"I know this is going to be really hard for you to understand, but the reason we didn't do anything is because it is suppose to be this way," Fi looked at her with disbelieve and that made Raliana feel even worse about what she was going to say. "Jack and Annie, well it is their destiny to be together. Annie is Jack's match, we don't know why. Annie is Fey, she doesn't know it yet, but she will soon. And I know this seems incredibly unfair but you should be happy for Jack. I mean he found the one person that he is going to be with for the rest of his life."

Fi had turned away from her aunt at when she started to talk about Jack's destiny. She felt tears roll down her face. She knew that she should be happy for her brother but she could not help feeling incredibly jealous of him. Rye was right half right when she said it seemed unfair, half right because it was completely unfair. "What about me," Fi asked quietly. "What is my destiny?"

"I don't know," Raliana replied sorrowfully.

"What? I don't understand," Fi looked around at her.

Raliana was hesitant, "Well, the Fates didn't tell me, yet. They were going to tell us on your sixteenth birthday but Oberon told them he didn't want to know. So we never found out."

"So because of Oberon I have no idea what is going to happen to me later in my life. I have to keep putting everyone off because there is this one person that I am supposed to be with," Fi was starting to cry again. "But I don't know who they are or how to start looking for them!"

Raliana hugged her tightly, "I know. I am so sorry Fiona, but there was nothing I could do about it because you weren't there. Now though, once you and Jack are fully trained you can go to the Fates yourself and ask them to tell you. Although they may only tell you the person's Fey name. But believe me, we will find out, and I am going to be with you every step of the way."

Fi started to calm down now, "So what I am going to do with Carey?"

"Fi, what you do with your love life, or whatever you call it is none of my business," Raliana pretended to shudder. "Believe me I don't want to know! Jeez girl, I don't tell you about what Puck and I-"

"Just stop right there," Fi held up her hand to silence Rye. "I don't even want to know."

They laughed for a few seconds but then Fi became serious again, "So are you saying that?"

"You can go out with Carey," Rye finished for her. "Well I mean technically it is up to your mom, but yes. Until you decided whether or not you are going to pledge your alliance to the Fey you can do what you want. Fate always wins anyway, that is the unfair part. My great aunts always have to be right," Rye pouted.

Fiona laughed at her, "Well I guess that is just the way things are?"

"So…," Rye looked at her expectantly.

"So what?" Fi tried to play innocent.

Raliana gave a little frustrated hop up and down, "So are you going to go out with Carey?"

"Well I don't even know if he likes me," Fi tried to be rational about the situation.

"Fiona Phillips! The boy kissed you for crying out loud. I am pretty sure that means that he likes you," Rye was not going to be put off.

Fi sighed, "Yeah but he prefaced it with trying to convince me that love was not a painful thing."

"Oh please," Rye rolled her eyes. "I know you read his mind. I saw you poking around in his subconscious."

"Yeah well," Fi felt kind of guilty about the whole thing. "I didn't really mean to, it just kind of happened."

"Sure, just keep telling yourself that," Raliana laughed her. "Well do want ever you want but wait until after you tell Jack about, well everything."

"You want me to tell Jack that Carey kissed me," Fiona was in total shock. "Jack will kill him. As in using all of his untrained powers to fry Carey burnt crisp kill him!"

"I wasn't talk about that," Raliana pretended to be annoyed. "You have a one track mind, you know that?"

"Hey," Fi acted offended. "Fine I promise I will tell Jack this morning. But you have to promise me that you and Puck will be near by, okay?"

"Promise!" Rye laughed a little. "Come let's get back to the room before they eat everything, I am dying here."

"Talk about an one track mind," Fi smiled at her friend.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, let's just get going already," Rye pulled Fi with her back towards the room.

"Where is Puck anyway? I know he said he had a meeting of some sort but I thought that he was just saying it for the benefit of the others" Fi asked her as the made their way through the hallways.

Rye shrugged, "I don't know. He goes away sometimes to do stuff. I guess he was trying to find out some more about Annie. Anyway he is usually always back before the next day."

"That is so strange," Fi contemplated Puck's disappearances for a moment. "I thought you guys told each other everything."

"Well I tell him everything. You know where I am going, who I am going with, when I will be back, but he never tells me so I don't ask," as soon as the words left her mouth she regretted saying them. 

"Oh really," Fi started to get all worked up again. "And you never wonder what he is doing?"

"Please don't start with this again Fi," Rye begged. "I just want to go get some food and then go to sleep. Can we save the woman's rights speech for another time?"

"Fine," Fi agreed. "But tomorrow I am going to ask him where he went."

"Fiona!" Raliana warned her.

"Hey it is fair game," Fi replied. "Let's get going. I am really sleepy." She faked a yawn.

"Sometime Fiona, sometimes," Raliana chuckled but she did not finish because they had reached the room. Sighing Rye followed Fi inside and they joined the others in a late dinner.

Author's Note: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes.

Updates show up here faster: [ http://members.fortunecity.com/annabellefic/][1]

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	6. Pain to Paradise

Disclaimer 

**Disclaimer:** I own only Raliana, Rhylinye and anyone else you don not normally see. I am a poor college student. Please don't sue me! The only thing I ask for is a little feedback. The characters from a Midsummer Night's Dream are Shakespeare's and any reference to King Arthur comes from the numerous authors that have previously written about him, there are too many that I am using so I cannot name them all. I am just borrowing these wonderful So Weird characters, they are Disney property. Please don't hurt me! Feedback is the only thing I ask for. Please!

**One In A Million** – Chapter 6  
_by Annabelle_

"Fi, are you awake," Annie asked the girl in the bed next to her in a hushed tone.

"No. I'm asleep," Fi responded. She felt a little guilty so she rolled over to face Annie. "What's up?"

"I just was wondering," Annie started to say something but then she paused. "Well I mean do you know anything about… Well I guess I wanted to know if…"

"Annie it is almost six in the morning," Fi knew she sounded meaner than she had intended to but she was tired. "Please just spit it out so I can get back to sleep."

"Actually it is closer to seven."

"Annie!"

"Right, sorry," Annie took a deep breath. "Well after I fainted or whatever down stairs I had this dream that, and I know this is going to sound totally weird but, Raliana was the Princess Rhylinye of the Fey."

Fiona's eyes had been closed up to that moment but the minute Annie said the name Rhylinye they flew open, "What did you just say?"

Annie shook her head, "I know it is totally weird but there is more. Incanto was Puck and they were engaged and everything. It was like I was seeing the whole dream from Raliana, well Rhylinye's point of view."

"Wow," that was all Fi could manage to say.

"Go back to sleep!" Raliana yelled in a hushed tone at them. "It's only six in the…" she stopped talking for no reason. At first the girls thought that she had fallen back asleep but then she got out of her bed and snapped herself into some clothes. "I'll be back later," She mumbled to them as she walked out the door.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking," Annie whispered to Fi. She got out of her bed and started to get dressed.

Fi shook her head, "Annie we can't follow her. It probably has something to do with Puc- Incanto."

"Fi what did you just say," Annie whipped her head around to look at her friend.

"I said we can't follow Rye because it she is probably go to talk to Incanto," Fi covered badly. She wished that she that Puck and Rhylinye had taught her how to manipulate minds, but they said that it they could not teach her until she decided if she wanted to be a member of the Avalon community. Only then would they be able to make sure that she did not abuse that type of power.

"No," Annie looked at her in the eye. "You said we couldn't follow her because it probably has something to do with Puck."

"I am tired," Fi explained. "You just called Incanto Puck a few minutes before when you were telling me about your dream. I was still thinking about it when I said his name."

"I don't believe you," Annie finished getting dressed and headed to the door.

"Freeze," Fi called out as Annie's hand reached for the door handle. She expected for Annie to stop in her tracks and not move a muscle but she saw the glimmer of her magic bounce back towards her. She ducked so she would not get hit.

"What? Are you going to come with me," Annie turned around and looked at her.

'Darn it! That should have worked,' Fi could not figure out what was going on. She had to buy time so Annie would not find Rye and Puck. "Yeah just let me get dressed okay," Fi went to get some clothes on.

'Rye,' Fi quickly pathed to her friend. 'Annie is making me come look for you and Puck. Either make yourselves scarce or act like you are doing something normal.'

Fi waited a few seconds for a reply. 'Thanks Fiona. I wouldn't worry about it.'

'What do you mean?' Fi had just finished the thought when Annie collapsed on a near by bed. 'You put her to sleep?'

'Well not us,' Rye explained. 'Go wake up Jack. You have to tell him now. Things, well things are starting to take an unexpected turn.'

'What is going on,' her mind voice was full of worry.

'Fi go wake up your brother and tell him what is going on now. If you don't Rhylinye and I will be forced to and that is something that we don't want to do,' Puck's voice had such forcefulness in it that she did not question him.

Fiona used Raliana's method of changing clothes and went next door to knock on the boys' door. "Jack," her voice was sharp whisper. "Jack wake up! I need to talk to you." She heard sleepy footsteps head to the door.

Jack poked his head out, his hair was mussed up from sleep, "What do you want Fi? The sun isn't even up."

"It is up, it has been for an hour. But that doesn't matter we need to talk," Fi told him quickly.

"Can't this wait," Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"No it can't!"

Jack shook his head and sighed, "Fine let me go get changed." He turned around to head back into his room.

Fiona blinked and a small glow appeared around Jack, "There now you are changed. Let's go." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out into the hallway.

"Fi! What's going on? What just happened," Jack was fully awake now. He was not sure how his nightclothes suddenly turned into day-clothes but he suspected that she had something do with it.

"I will explain once we get there," Fi grabbed Jack's hand.

"Get where?" Jack started to ask her but then he was blindly for a few moments. When he was able to refocus his eyes he realized that he was standing outside. The sun was shining down on him warming his body. He heard a strange bird song off in the distance and he was standing at the shores of a lake. There was a forest near him but the trees were nothing like any that he had seen before. Then he turned and looked at Fi.

She was dressed in something he had never since her in before. She was wearing dress, a rare thing for her, sometimes he thought that she did not even own one. It was free flowing and looked like something out of one his history books. On her wrists were gold bands with a Celtic design and she wore a matching belt. "Fi were did you get that," Jack asked her but before she had a chance to answer he kept going. "I must be dreaming. Of course that is it. Ha! I almost believed that this was actually happening."

"Jack this isn't a dream," Fi told him sadly.

Jack laughed at her, "Sure it isn't. Wow, my subconscious must be working over time."

"This isn't a dream!" Fi yelled at him. "If this was a dream would I be able to bleed?" Fi made a knife appear out of no wear and cut her arm from the end of her wristband to her elbow. Blood started to trickle down her arm slowly.

"Fiona what on earth are you doing?" Jack ripped a piece of fabric form his shirt and rushed over to her to cover her arm with it. "You could have really hurt yourself."

"Do you believe me now that this isn't a dream," Fi asked him seriously.

Jack nodded, "This is a nightmare."

Fi wanted to cry. She knew she should have explained to him in their world what was going on but she thought seeing Avalon would force him to believe her. She pulled away the cloth that Jack had put over he wound, "If this was a nightmare would my arm have healed?"

He looked down at her arm. There was no sign of her ever cutting herself not even a scar. Jack backed away from her, "No, this is not happening. I must be asleep."

"Jack you have to believe me," tears were escaping her eyes but she tried to hold them back. "You are not asleep, you are awake and you are standing on the soil of Avalon home to the Fey." He did not respond to her. "What can I do to prove that you are awake?"

"I don't know," Jack shook his head.

"Okay well you don't feel physical pain when you are asleep, right?" Fiona hated what she was saying and what she was about to do.

"Well no," he thought about it. "I don't think so."

She let the tears run down her checks now. There was nothing that could have stopped them because she was about to do something that she never thought that she would have to do, "I am sorry Jack."

"Sorry? Sorry about what? Fiona you are scaring me," Jack gave her a nervous look.

She did not say anything to him; she did not even look at him. A small ball of blue light started to form in the palm of her right hand. Then before he knew what was happening she hurled the ball at him.

His knees buckled under him in pain. He sank slowly to the ground not quiet believing what just happened. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his sister running towards him, tears were streaming down her face. Her lips were moving and it looked like she was saying that she was so sorry about everything, but he could not hear her. His whole world was crumbling beneath him. Not jus because his sister had hit him with some type of energy ball, but because she had the ability to form it. Because she was telling the truth, he was not just dreaming he was in Avalon, a place that was only supposed to exist in myth. Proving that science and logic could not explain everything, that he had been wrong his whole life.

"Jack," Fi pleaded with him, "Please say something. Anything, please!"

"What are you?" Jack looked at her with fear and even a little disgust. She was after all the one who disturbed his prefect world.

"I am the same as you," she was a little hurt by the tone in his voice. "Half Fey, half human."

Jack stood and started to walk away from her, "No! No! I am the normal one, I am the logically one. There is nothing un-human about me."

"Jack listen to me, our father, he was the son of Oberon," Fi tried to explain. "He was banished to the human world just like every other Fey a little over a thousand years ago."

"You are lying," Jack yelled at her, tears of anger coming down his face. "Stop this right now!"

"He wanted to be with us, he loved us. But Oberon had called for the Gathering to start and he was forced to go back. Oberon sent his guards out to take him back. Sometimes, he would come and visit us; he would bring people with him, a young man and woman. They would stay for a couple of hours and then leave. When they left they would come here Jack."

"Fiona I am telling you if you don't stop this right now," Jack shook his hand at her violently.

Fi was sobbing lightly; she tried to maintain some control over her emotions so she could speak. "On the night of the first feast of the Gathering he refused to go back to Avalon. Oberon was furious and sent his guards out again. When our father went back with the guards he struggled the whole time. The guards brought him to dinning hall and he was screaming for Oberon's head." She wanted to reach out to her brother so that he could hold her and comfort her, but she knew he wouldn't, not right then.

"Stop! Please stop," he begged her.

"There was nothing anyone could do," Fiona looked Jack in the eye, matching tear for tear. "He had committed treason and the penalty was death. Oberon had no choice, he had to otherwise the Court of Avalon would have done the same thing. Titania, our grandmother, she asked for our father to be allowed to visit us one last time. So they poisoned him with iron. That night that we remember Daddy getting in a car accident, he was already dying before he left the house. He died for us, because he loved us so much."

"Why?" Jack wanted an answer, "Why now?"

Raliana and Incanto appeared before him, "Because we need your help and because your loved ones are in danger."

"What are you doing here," he struggled to get the words out.

Raliana and Incanto morphed into their Fey forms of Rhylinye and Puck. They were dressed much the same way as when they first appeared to Fiona. Rhylinye stepped forward and held her hand out him. "I am the Lady Rhylinye, your father's clan sister, and your aunt."

"I find that hard to believe," Jack told her harshly, "You are blue for crying out loud."

"Always the logical one Jack," Rhylinye laughed a little. "I remember when you were little. When you did something with your magic you would always rationalize it. You gave your father the hardest time." She smiled at him and then she morphed into another form. A tallish woman with dirty blond hair and hazel eyes, "Do you remember me now?"

Jack looked at her in horror, "Cousin Lin."

"That's right," Rhylinye nodded. "I never was creative with names."

"This isn't happening. I am dreaming," Jack started to slap his checks. "I just have to wake up. Come on Jack, wake up. Wake up."

"You are not asleep," Puck spoke harshly to him. "If you continue to refuse to believe us you will keep putting the people around you in danger and they could get killed."

"Puck," Rhylinye held her hand up. "You are out of line. He is a member of the royal family." She glared at him then turned to Jack. "What Puck said is true. If you do not listen you will end up hurting the others around you. That is why Fiona let us train her, so she could come back to be with you and your mother, and help you."

"Jack it is true," Fi stepped closer to him. "Our untrained magic, well it is leaking into the world around us causing problems. That's why I had to leave," she hesitated for a moment, "and that's why Annie blacked out yesterday."

"What?" Jack's mind was telling him not to believe anything that was going on, but his gut was telling him something else.

"Your magic is seeping out from you like water seeps from a crack in a dam. Over time the flow becomes stronger until the dam brakes. Last night it almost did, that's why Annie's guardian had to leave her. Something triggered for you magic to start to flow from you faster. But Annie's guardian saw it, and he knew that if he didn't do something to stop it you would have hurt everyone around you and maybe even killed yourself," Rye tried to explain. "So he left Annie to build a temporary shield around you so that would not happen. Only when he did that he realized that the whole thing was a trap, your magic was not really about to explode from you, it was just an illusion. One to get him away from Annie so that she would be left vulnerable."

"Vulnerable to what," Jack was not buying this. "To some big evil force? If my magic was leaking so much why didn't you see it? Why didn't you do something about it?"

Rhylinye started to shake her head but Puck spoke up, "We were not meant to see it. The threat was only to be directed towards you and Annie."

"So someone was attacking Annie and me directly," Jack's head was starting to spin from all the information that he was being given. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

"We don't know why just yet," Fiona told him sadly. "But if you let Puck and Rhylinye train you we can make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"Why should I believe you if you don't even know what caused this?"

"Because what they are saying is true," a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Annie," Jack turned around to see Annie standing there with a panther at her side.

All of the sudden a small bubble started to fly towards Annie. When it hit her it grew to surround her. She was lifted high into the air over the lake. Annie started to pound on the walls of the bubble and was screaming, but no sound could be heard.

"What is going on," Jack turned and screamed at everyone.

"He is close, I can feel him," Rhylinye looked fearfully at Puck. "You have to get Fiona out of here, take Jack too."

"No! I am not leaving until you tell me what is going on," Jack told them with determination.

"Jack you have to," Fi started to say but then she stopped. "I can't move, my body is totally frozen."

Both Puck and Rhylinye tried to move but the looked at him. "You have to help her Jack," Rhylinye told him.

"What about the panther," Jack was starting to panic. The panther did not move an inch; it seemed to be frozen like the others. Jack looked up at Annie and saw her start to slump towards the bottom of the bubble, if he had to guess he would say that she was running out of air. "What do I do?"

"It is too hard to explain," Rhylinye sent images to his mind.

At first Jack was in shock as the images invaded his psyche. He could not make sense of them because they were coming to him so quickly. Then it stopped and he was able to fully process what he saw and what he was supposed to do. "Thank you," he whispered to Rhylinye. "I am coming Annie, hang on," he shouted at her.

Looking at his right hand he concentrated on the space around it. He watched as tiny specs of light started to gather around and above it, the specs started to form a heavy object in his hand. "Excalibur come to me," Jack shouted hoping to speed up the process of the sword's materialization. A bronze handled sword with brown leather grip appeared in his hand, its weight more than he expected but he forced all of his strength into hold up blade which had Celtic designs covering part of its length.

"I did it," Jack looked at the sword with astonishment. "I don't believe it! Fi look at this!"

'That's wonderful Jack, now go help Annie,' she pathed to him.

"Yeah right," Jack looked up at her. He knew how he was supposed to get to her, Rye had showed him, but he was not sure he could do it. Above him he saw Annie's body start to convulse and Jack knew that there was no choice; he had to believe that he could do this.

When his feet left the ground he was shaky because of his uncertainty of being able to levitate but only moments later his body steady and Jack sent himself propelling towards Annie. Once there he put his hand against the bubble and she looked up at him, it was oblivious that she was chocking from lack of air. Raising the sword above his head with unsteady hands he wielded it towards the bubble with all of his might. The bubble broke and Annie's body started to crash to the ground but Jack raced to catch her. He set them both down on the ground.

"Thanks Jack," Annie's voice was weak. She looked around and saw everyone frozen in place, "What happened to them?"

Fiona started to laugh, "We are okay, we were just pretending."

"You what?" Jack was furious.

"Well we had to make you believe some how. Annie was never really in danger," Fi assured him but he just glared at her. "Well she knew what was going on too!"

"Is that true," Jack looked Annie with the same glare.

"It wasn't my idea," Annie gave him a guilty look.

'It was mine,' the panther's voice entered all there minds

"At least he won't blame us now," Puck whispered to Rhylinye and she elbowed him. "What?"

"So what is really going on here," Jack asked everyone.

"Well we had to make you believe," Annie told him. "So Evintha volunteered to help my guardian." Annie motioned to the air but then in an instant a young woman who looked similar to Puck appeared.

"Hey," Evintha smiled at him. "I am sorry we scared you Jack, but it was the only way. And when Annie's guardian came up with the idea I decided to help. I haven't had so much fun in awhile."

"Fun! You call this fun," Jack was losing it. "Annie could have been killed."

'No, she was fine the whole time,' the panther told him. 'We were only frozen for the first few moments after that our magic neutralized Evintha's.'

"I can't take this," Jack's shoulder's slumped and he let the sword drop to the ground.

"Excalibur return," Rhylinye called to the sword and it flied to her hand. "I know it is a lot to understand but you have, you really don't have a choice."

Jack stood there but he did not look at any one. He concentrated on the sword, the way the sun hit the blade and reflected off of it. "Its mine," Jack held up his hand and Excalibur was ripped from Rhylinye's hand and sailed towards his.

"He's got a good memory," Puck chuckled and everyone frowned at him. "Well it's true! He remembers that the sword is his. I mean sure his Da promised it to him when he was little but he still remembers."

"I don't think that is what he is talking about," Annie backed away from Jack and slowly walked towards the others.

"He is possessed," Rhylinye told everyone in horror as she reached out for Annie's hand to pull the girl a save distance from the person that was no longer her nephew.

"That is impossible," Puck told them. "He is Fey, we don't get possessed."

"He is untrained," Rhylinye's voice was full of caution. "Excalibur's power might have been too much for him to handle."

"Don't be ridiculous," Puck laughed at them. "There is nothing wrong with my Jackie boy. Your just happy to have your gift back, right old chap," he walked to Jack not looking at him. He did not notice that Jack had raised the sword above his head, and he turned around just in time to see Jack swing the sword at him. "Whoa, Jack! I am on your side remember," he dodged the blade and retreated behind the Princess of the Fey. The others gasped when the saw how narrowly the blade had missed him.

"Stay back," Jack told them all. "Excalibur is home now and there is nothing you can do to stop this."

"Want to bet," Rhylinye replied to him. "Sword of Excalibur hear my cry," her eyes started to glow. "Release your hold over this Fey, he is pure of heart and mind. Only honor shall be brought to you. No spell is needed.'

Jack laughed at her and started to talk in the old tongue of Camelot, "Silly girl. Your magic cannot hurt me. I am Mordred son of Arthur and I have waited a long time to claim my birth right."

"Oh that's it," Fiona threw her hands up in the air. "I have had it! My family is put in constant danger because of the Lord Oberon and as if that wasn't enough my brother is now possessed by King Arthur's evil son? I don't think so."

Fi put all of her frustrations into a massive globe of energy. Then she aimed it at her brother, "Release!" She threw the globe at him with all her might. When it came in contact with him he screamed loudly but everyone noticed a hazy form leave his body.

"Is it over now," Puck asked meekly as he poked his head around from behind Rhylinye.

Rye sighed, "I think so. How do you feel Jack?"

"Like my arm is about to fall off and someone ran my head over with a truck," he put his hand to his forehead and let the sword drop to the ground. "It was like I had no control over my body. I could see what was happening but I couldn't do anything about it. Sorry Puck."

"It is okay. Like you said you weren't in control," Puck picked up the fallen sword. "This is yours."

"I don't deserve it," Jack pushed the blade away. "You saw what happened."

"Nonsense," Puck laughed at him. "Your Da wanted you to have it. You just need a little training to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Jack gave him a sad look and Annie felt her heart go out to him. She went to him and wrapped her arms around him. "It is going to be okay Jack," Annie whispered to him as she held him close. "We just need a little help that's all. We can do this, together."

He pulled away a little to look into her eyes. He saw in those eyes everything that he was feeling and he knew that he could this. With her help he could make it through anything.

Fiona looked at them and felt jealously start to rise in her a little so she looked away. One day she knew that she would find what they had, just not today. Today she had to be there for them, help them. The dark lord was close and she could feel it. Something was different about Avalon since she had last been here. "I don't think we are save here," she told everyone as she looked at the gathering clouds in sky.

"The time of the gathering is over," Rhylinye agreed. "The war is close. The only place we will be safe is the palace."

'No,' the panther protested. 'I will not have Annie going near that palace it is not safe for her. I have somewhere else you can train them.'

"Why is my palace unsafe for your child guardian," Rhylinye asked. "Everyone knows that the safest place for those of light is the palace of Avalon.

'I will only let you train her on my terms,' the animal offered no apology or explanation. 'Follow me.'

"What choice do we have," Puck huffed as he led the others to follow the panther into the forest.

They walked for some time until they came to a clearing. 'This is where you will train them until they have enough defenses to leave the circle. Once they can protect themselves you can leave the protection of the clearing to train else where,' the panther headed towards an old tree stump and eased his body to the ground.

"Well it will be big enough for sword training," Evintha scanned the area. "That and you will be able to teach magic while I train."

"You do sword training," Jack almost laughed. Evintha was only slightly taller than Annie and Fi, and she was much leaner than either of them.

"Aye," Evintha looked harshly at him. "Why do you find that so funny?"

Rhylinye had to hold back a giggle, "Watch what you say Jack. Evintha is the best sword mistress in Avalon. She will give you a run for you money."

"Why do we need to learn how to use swords," Fi did not really want to know the answer but she knew they would tell her if she did not ask. "I thought the Fey only used magic to fight."

"That we do," Evintha informed her. "But the dark forces have been using blades made or iron as of late. They are starting to play dirty."

"They always have," Puck reminded everyone. "We shall not start training until later today though. First we have to find a way make sure that no one will notice we are gone."

"We could tell them that we are going to a movie and then out to dinner," Annie suggested.

"That might work except that mom's concert is tonight," Fi thought for a moment. "What about we start training tomorrow instead?"

"Can't," Rye shook her head. "We have to have teach Annie and Jack how to project their images so that no one will notice that they aren't there on the bus tomorrow."

'Teach what you can now,' the panther spoke with wisdom. 'Then when it is time for breaks use that as time to train them how to travel between the worlds.'

"That's brilliant!" Evintha exclaimed but she quieted down when she received and nasty look from Puck. "What, it is a good idea."

Rhylinye laughed, "Don't be mad because a spirit animal came up with a solution faster than you did. Come let us begin. Evintha will you start teaching Fi how to use her sword."

"I don't have a sword," Fi felt a little left out, she would like to use Excalibur but it was clear that the sword had chosen Jack.

"That could be a problem," Evintha agreed with Fi and she saw a little bit of a relieved look on the girl's face. "Too bad for you I have a solution. Here," a bronze handle blade with spiral design on the grip and what looked to be horns at the cross section of the sword appeared in her hand. She handed the sword effortlessly to Fi, who struggled to get a good grip of the blade. "It used to be mine until I crafted my own sword. It is the Sword of Odin. I won it from Odin himself. Of course he has many other swords so it was not a big deal to him, but the sword does have his blessing, and there is no other like it. Mostly because no one has ever won a sword from Odin before, he is a very skillful warrior. I think I caught him on one of his off days."

"I guess everyone has one," Jack gave Fi a goofy look but she just snorted at him. "Lift with your shoulder's Fi, this is not fencing."

"Really," Fi retorted. She quickly formed a little rain cloud over Jack's head and liquid poured down on him. "Use your imagination Jack, this isn't a dream."

Jack looked like he was going to start chasing her but Puck stopped him, "We all better get started. We are losing daylight."

So everyone went to different parts of the clearing and began their various training sessions. Jack and Annie spent hours learning the same things that Fi had weeks before. Fi practiced swordsmanship basics over and over until she could barely lift the sword. Annie's panther watched with satisfaction as young half Feys learned more about their culture and traditions. He was sometimes disturbed by Puck's presence but assured himself that it was a necessary unpleasantry. With the help of Puck the training would go much faster.

After a few hours the first break was taken and Jack and Annie learned how to travel between worlds. When they were all safely back at the hotel, with the exception of Evintha and the panther, they went to find the other members of their tour group.

"Hey," Carey called out from behind them. "Where have you guys been? We have been looking everywhere for you. I thought we were going to have to start breakfast without you guys."

"Breakfast," Jack's eyebrows went up. "I don't know about you guys, but after that ah, hike I am starved!"

"Yeah me too," Fi smiled at Carey. "Show us where the food's at."

"Of course my lady," Carey held his arm out to her and Fi took it with a giggle.

Jack gave them a strange look that they did not notice but everyone else did. Annie hit him on the arm. "What?" Jack was a little offended. "I can't be worried about my little sister," he whispered so that Fi and Carey would not hear him.

"It is her life," Annie told him sternly.

"Besides you don't even know if there is anything going on," Rye added. She and Puck had changed back into their human forms of Raliana and Incanto.

"I don't," Jack eyed her. "But you obviously know something."

"Aye! I know nothing," Raliana held her hands up in a mock surrender.

"Now I know you know something," Jack insisted.

Incanto stood slightly in front of Raliana as if to protect her, "Let it wait until another day Jack. Fiona will tell you if there is something going on or not." Incanto and Raliana started off in the direction that Fi and Carey went. "Well are you two coming or not."

Annie nodded and followed them eagerly when she noticed that Jack had not moved. "Really Jack, stop brooding. It is not very pleasant," Annie smiled at him. She held her hand out to him, 'Come on. You know you are hungry.'

"Oh! Don't do that," Jack held his hand to his head. "You know now much that gives me a headache.

'Sorry, but you have to get used to it,' Annie gave him a little frown.

'Well I don't have to like it,' he sounded so much like a little boy that Annie couldn't help laughing.

"Come on now," Annie walked away from him. "Before everyone eats and there is nothing left. She heard him grumble a bit but then he followed her.

*****

  
"Yeild!" Evintha shouted up to Annie as she lay on her back on the ground. "I yield."

"Good!" Annie laughed and helped Evintha up.

"I am not sure I should have given you the sword of Lionheart," Evintha shook her head. "You are getting too good at handling it."

"You are only saying that because I beat once out of how many times?" Annie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well. I have almost lost to you several times and Jack and Fi are starting to give me more trouble," Evintha turned to Rhylinye. "You know if we didn't have guards on these swords I would be dead ten times over."

Rhylinye chuckled as she finished up her lesson with Jack, "Well I am sure everyone appreciates your hard work."

'Attack stance, now!' Annie pathed to Jack. She sensed Puck and Fi coming at them at a fast pace.

Jack complied but he did not understand what was going on, 'What do you mean it is just Puck and my sister?'

'Yes but they are,' Annie did not get to finish the thought. Puck and Fi burst into the clearing and sailed start towards Rhylinye.

Puck grabbed one of Rhylinye's arms and Fi captured the other. They dragged her with them for a bit and then disappeared. Everyone stood there in shock for a moment.

"Okay, what was that," Jack gave an angry gestured to where Rhylinye had been standing a few moments ago.

'It is a test,' the panther pathed to him with sleepy eyes.

"You are supposed to go rescue Rhylinye from Puck and Fi," Evintha continued with a sigh. "To test your ability to detect, defend, and use magic all at the same time. You are lucky, Fi had to do this test by herself. Although most time it is done with at least one other person."

"So she is going to make it especially hard for us," Jack groaned.

'We can do this,' Annie squeezed his hand. 'Together.'

'Together,' Jack repeated with a smile and they went off to find Rhylinye.

"Do you think they are ready," Evintha asked the panther.

'I know they are ready,' he replied. 'I just don't know if Rhylinye is ready.'

"What do you mean," Evintha asked him.

He looked at her for a moment, 'For the great change that is to come.' With that he walked off.

*****

"Damn the stars!" the Dark Lord threw globe of glass at the wall. "I cannot see what they are doing! Wisp tell me what is going on, now!"

"I am sorry my Lord," the Wisp's voice quivered. "They have been a protected area for days now. I have not been able to see what is going. It seems though now Jack and Annie are taking the test. They have journeyed out to the rest of Avalon."

The Dark Lord let a menacing grin fall over his features, "They have moved their training along much faster. Good, the sooner they are trained the sooner we can take care of the silly little Princess and her Fey subjects, then I will rule all of Avalon forever." Then he thought off something that made his grin fade, "Have you found out why the Annie girl is protected?"

"I will soon my Lord," the wisp tried to cover his failure.

"What! Have you been doing nothing I asked?" The Lord's voice boomed across the room and the floor shook. "No matter," he calmed for a moment. "I am changing you into human form now. Start planting the ideas that something could have been done to save their father."

"Yes my Lord," The wisp replied and then he felt himself grow bigger. His body started to take the form of a human but he still had his wisp like glow. When the glow faded from his body he lifted his hand to look at it. It was the same color as Incanto's and Raliana's. He used his mind to form a reflecting pool in front of him and stared into it. Looking back at him was someone who was just about the same age as Jack, maybe a little older, with thick black hair and clear green eyes. "I say, I make quite the human," he admired his features in the water.

"Now get moving before you make quite a dead human," The Lord waved him off.

The Wisp saluted his Lord, "Yes sir!" He jumped into the water before he saw the Dark Lord roll his eyes.

"Somehow I feel like I am making a huge mistake in letting him go," he muttered to himself. He made another globe appear before him and looked into his window to the other world.

*****

"I can't believe it," Jack was laughing as he and the other walked down the hallway of the New Mexico concert arena that his mother was performing at for the next two nights. "We spent weeks and countless hours training, missing out on all the great things in the towns we have passed through since we were in Chicago, and for what? To spend hours in a ceremony promising to up hold the laws of magic and land that we have never lived on just so we can use what we learned!"

"Shh!" Annie hit his arm because she was afraid that someone would hear him.

'It is not just that Jack,' Fi pathed to him. Reminding him that he should be using his mind voice when he talked about anything that had to do with Avalon. 'We did it so that we will not be a danger to the people around us.'

'Sorry,' Jack couldn't stop laughing. 'But it just seems so, well I don't know.'

'Well I'm happy,' Annie grinned as she grabbed his hand and swung it a little. She shielded her thoughts from everyone but him, 'Now we don't have to worry about getting caught.'

Jack blushed a little at some of the images that she was sending to him in his mind. 'Annie!' he sent her back the private message. 'I am shocked!'

'What,' she gave him this innocent look, 'you know that you were thinking the same thing too, and I know it.'

He gave her a goofy grin, 'Well, I wasn't thinking that exactly.'

'Hello would you two like to join the rest of civilization!' Fi pathed to them with an evil smile.

"Hey!" Carey called out from down the hallway then ran up to them.

'No talk of Avalon,' Raliana sent the quick thought to all of them. She laced her arm around Incanto's and smiled at Carey.

"Hey man," Jack greeted him and then gave him a funny look. Carey was clearly not looking at anyone but Fi. She was kind of blushing under his stare.

"Hey Carey, is practice over," Annie sent Jack a mental punch in the arm. She knew that Jack did not mind that Carey liked his little sister, well it bothered him but not to the point were he did not approve. What was bugging him is that neither of them would tell him what was going on. 'Well it is not like we are telling them about us,' Annie reminded him.

'What is there to tell, I mean anyone can see what is going on if they have eyes,' he retorted.

'Maybe that is how the feel,' Annie smiled harder as she watched Carey's lips move in reply to her question.

"We are taking a break," he looked at her quickly but then moved to be closer to Fi. "So have you guys seen the new roadie that my dad hired? He is like totally weird."

"Sounds like someone Fi would like," Jack wriggled his eyebrows at his little sister. "What do you think Fi?"

She was about to give him a semi-harsh reply when someone came crashing into the hallway carrying an armload of boxes piled higher than his head. "Luk out," he shouted as the boxes started to topple off the pile.

Everyone jumped back as the boxes hit the ground. "Sorry," the guy gave them apologetic look. "De other roadies thought it wud be craic to see 'oy much de new boyo cud carry," he spoke with a thick Irish accent and looked up them with huge green eyes.

Fi felt captivated by him instantly, "Here let me help you what that." She bent down to help him gather up the boxes. "The other guys can be really jokers if they want to, they are just trying to break you in. Don't let it get to you," she smiled at him.

"Thank ye," he took her hand and placed a small kiss on it. Then he gathered up his boxes. "Sorry aboyt runnin' into all av ye."

"It's okay," Fi smiled at him. She watched him turn to leave and remembered that she had not found out his name. "Hey, wait up!" She ran from the group to catch up with him.

"Did oi forget somethin'," He gave her a puzzled look.

She smiled at him, "Yeah. You forgot to tell me your name."

"Oh, me name is Hugh O'Broin," he smiled back at her. "An' ye are?"

"Fiona Phillips, but everyone calls me Fi," she started back towards her friends. "See ya around Hugh!"

"Aye!" he replied with a smile and then turned away from her. "Much sooner than ye tink Fiona."

"So what was that all about," Jack nudged his sister a little when she had rejoined them.

Fi rolled her eyes at her brother, "Nothing. I just wanted to know his name. Come on Annie," She grabbed her friend's arm. "We need to still have to do that thing that we were talking about earlier. You too Rye."

"Waat thing," Rye shook her head and Fi sent her a sharp look. "Aw, dat thing. We'll see you guys later." With that they all took off down the hall.

"Do any of you know what that was about," Carey asked Incanto and Jack.

"My guess," Jack pretended to think for a moment. "Fi likes that new roadie and she is going to have a conference with the other girls to see what is the best way to get to know him." Jack saw the color drain fro Carey's face and held in a laugh. 'I am so loving this,' he pathed to Inky.

'You know it is wrong to meddle in your sister's life,' Inky pretended to scold him. 'Aw, what I am saying. Do you see is face! He is totally crushed, this is going to be too much fun.'

"Yeah," Inky agreed with Jack out loud. "I got this vibe from the both of them. Kind of like they were meant to run into each other."

"Really?" Carey started to have evil thoughts about the roadie. "But shouldn't we be protecting her from him. I mean we don't know anything about this guy."

"Well your dad hired him Carey. I am sure Mr. B wouldn't hire any one that he thought was sketchy," Jack winked at Inky. "Besides he seems nice enough."

"He seems nice enough? You just meet the guy!" Carey cried out in frustration. "Fine, if you guys aren't going to watch out for Fi I am! I got to get back to rehearsal." He headed back to the stage.

"Oh that was good fun," Inky laughed as he watched Carey walk away. "Well Jack my boy I have to get going. There is someone I have to talk to."

"Okay, should we wait for you at dinner time?" Jack tried to speak between chuckles.

Incanto shook his head, "No don't bother. I won't be back till late tomorrow. Tell Raliana not to wait up for me. I will talk with her later."

"I will. Have a nice time," Jack laughed a bit more and started to head to the stage to bug Carey some more. He did not notice that Incanto flickered out, a clear sign that he was going to Avalon. Not that it would have surprised him, Incanto and Raliana were always winking in and out of Avalon. He was about to go through the stage door when he got a better idea. Looking around to make sure that no one saw used his magic to transport himself to another part of the venue.

*****

"Fiona, oi don't know aboyt dis. It doesn't seem like a gear idea," Rye looked at her nervously. They were all standing just out side of the concert building

"Gear? Since when did you start talking like you were from Ireland?" Fi stared at her.

"Yeah," Annie agreed with Fiona.

"Aw naw! Dis 'appens to me whenever oi 'ear someone wi' an Oirish accent spake. Oi 'av tried for years to git read av dis accent an' oi still use aye all de time," Raliana started to get frantic. "Now oi canny stop speakin' like dis!"

"I think it is kind of cool," Fi tried to reassure her.

Annie nodded, "Yeah, ditto."

"Dat is waat ye say now. But waat until ye canny understan' me anymore cos oi use words like scon!" Raliana wring her hands and tried to calm down.

"What does scon mean?" Annie asked innocently.

"Scon is am. Aye me!" Raliana started to cry a little. "Incanto 'ates it when oi spake like dis."

"Well how about you take a few deep breaths and try to concentrate on how Annie and I talk," Fi felt bad for Rye. She did not so much care about what Incanto thought she wanted to be able to understand her friend.

"Aye," Raliana felt a bit defeated. "So why is it dat ye want til git dis Hugh til notice ye?"

Fiona paused for a moment to make sure she understood everything that Rye said, "I don't know." Fi started to get this strange, almost starry eyed look on her face, "He is just so…"

Annie smiled at Fi, "I know that look. That is the same look that I used to get around Jack."

"Used to, hah! Ye still git dat luk aboyt ye whenever ye aroun' 'im or are thinkin' av 'im," Raliana teased her. "Av cousre who scon are til spake, Puk still does de same thin' til me sometimes. It is called bein' in love."

Fi shook her head, "I don't know about being in love. I do feel like I have some type of connection to him. Like we knew each other in a past life or something."

"That is so cool," Annie exclaimed.

"Oi dunna tink dat is possable Fiona. Oi mean it is rare for a Fey til die. Even if ye did die de chance av another Fey dyin' aroun' de same time are slim til none," Rye scrunched her face up at the sound of her voice. "Scon are never gonna soun' normal again!"

"First of all it doesn't matter if you sound like you are from Ireland or America, Puck should love you either way," Fi shook her finger at Raliana. "Second of all who said that Hugh had to be Fey. I could have known him as a Fey in a past life and both he and I got killed in some war, but he was human and I was Fey. And third, the chances of me being half Fey are slim to none but I still am!"

"She has a point," Annie agreed with Fiona.

"Thank you," Fi threw her head back with an air of confidence.

"Aw, oi know scon are gonna regret dis. So waat do ye want us til do?" Rye sighed.

"Okay I know this is a tangent but couldn't we just cast a language spell on everyone so it sounds like she is speaking with an American accent?" Annie smiled brilliantly.

"Aye, dat might work Annie, but Puk wud clap roi through it an' everyone wud be able til understan' Hugh all av de sudden. Oi tink people wud start til git suspicious," Raliana gasped. "Scon are gettin' worse!"

"Calm down Rye," Fi told her firmly. "And what is clap?"

"See," Annie felt proud that she had been able to figure it out. "It was either see or look, see made more sense," she tried to explain how she was about to figure what the word meant.

"Anyway, before oi forget, waat aboyt Carey?" Rye asked slyly

"What about him," Fi shrugged.

"Aw, oi don't know," Rye held her hand to her head as if she were thinking for a moment. "Waat aboyt de fact dat he kissed ye an' ye liked it!" she looked Fi straight in the eye.

"Carey kissed you?" Annie squealed

Fi looked around quickly fearful that someone might over hear them, "Geez Annie! Keep it down!"

'Sorry,' Annie pathed to Fi. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Cause then you would tell Jack,' Fi explained.

'An' then Jack wud 'av killed Carey,' Rye finished. 'Aye even me thoughts are Oirish.'

'Oh would you stop it,' Fi and Annie both yelled in her head.

'Naw sympathy at all. Not one wee drop av it,' Raliana complained.

The girls laughed at her but then Annie stopped, 'Fi you really should think about what this is gonna do to Carey. I mean it is really obvious that he likes you.'

'Someone agrees wi' me,' Rye was pleased.

Fi glared at both of them, 'Well if he did something about I would not object, but he hasn't so… Besides which Jack and I have yet to decide if we are going to pledge allegiance to the Fey, well the Court of Avalon. And if we do, well there is that whole arranged marriage thing.'

Annie felt her head start to spin, 'What arranged marriage thing?'

'Well it is not arranged per say,' Fi rolled her eyes. 'More like the Fates tell you who you are destined to be with.'

'So is does every Fey and half Fey have to go through that,' Annie hoped that they would say no.

'Not unless they are part av de royal family an' were still alive at de time av de Gatherin' an' after it,' Rye gave the girls a knowing smile. 'An' even then they 'av til be offishal declared a couple in front av de whole Court av Avalon. Oi remember dat yer Da wus supposed til marry dis silly flighty Fey blade. But yer Da refused til marry someone wi' de intelligence av a toadstool so they were never offishal declared til be wed. Then we were all sent away so yer Da never foun' anyone until yer Ma. Yer Da loved 'er so much. Aye waat they 'ad wus true so 'tis love!'

'So what if my Dad and Mom meet,' Fi was in total shock. 'Then neither of them would have ever experienced true love! If Oberon had never banished everyone from Avalon they would have never meet. Then Jack and I would have never been born.'

'They are called Fates for a reson,' Raliana replied. 'Sometimes they will say one thin' is gonna 'appen in order til make sure dat waat is supposed til 'appen really does.'

'So Oberon killed my father for a reason,' Jack interrupted them.

The girls all jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. "Jack don't do that," Fi yelled at him out loud because she was so shocked.

"Sorry," he gave her a lopsided smile. 'So you are saying that Oberon killed our dad and your brother for a reason.'

'Well yer Da did break de laws av Avalon, but owy everythin' alwus 'appens for a call,' Raliana nodded.

'What happened to you,' Jack looked at Raliana with shock written all over his face.

Raliana groaned, 'An' on dat 'appy note scon are gonna leave all av ye til blather aboyt yer future. Oi 'av til spake til Inky anyway.'

'Oh Rye, Inky said to tell you that he would be gone until later tomorrow. Something about talking to someone,' Jack remembered to tell her.

She smiled, 'That is bars news oi 'av 'eard all day! Maybe oi wi' me new foun' tongue oi will go talk wi' Hugh. Oi know he will understan' me.'

"Bye everyone. Oi will tell Carey hi ya for ye Fiona," Rye grinned and then raced away from them before Fi had a chance to say anything to her.

"I swear sometimes," Fi made a fist with her hand.

"Hey it's okay Fi," Jack patted her on the back. "I already knew there was something going on with you and Carey."

"But there isn't!" Fi tried to convince him but he just shook his head at her. "Fine let's just talk about what we are going to do. Are we going to join the Court of Avalon and pledge our allegiance to Oberon or not?"

"I will join the Court," Annie spoke. "But I will not pledge my allegiance to any man who can kill his own son. What is there preventing him from doing the same thing to us?"

"Nothing," Jack agreed with Annie.

"I am not saying I don't agree with you, but Jack, daddy did break the law," Fi pointed out. "He did it for us, but he broke the law. Rye said that if Oberon did not kill him the Court would have."

"Raliana also said there was a reason that this happened," Jack thought for a moment. "She must know what that reason is and she should tell us. Why should we fight for people and a government that killed our father? I think we need to get more information from her."

"If we do not fight the Dark Lord will take over all of Avalon. I have seen the things that he has done. They are worse than what Oberon did to our father. He attacked Annie for no reason," Fi was frustrated with her brother. "I don't know about you but I am perfectly willing to fight in order to make sure the Dark Lord does not get any more power over this world and Avalon. If he comes to power who knows what will happen to us or the rest of humanity."

"I think whatever decision is made should be agreed on by all of us. None of should have to do this alone," Annie held her hands out to both Jack and Fiona. "Doing this with each others support is the only way we are going to be fight the Dark Lord or decided that the life of the Fey is not for us. So what do you say?"

"I agree," Jack took Annie's hand.

Fiona thought for a moment, "Well I used to being the odd one out." Both Jack and Annie gave her a concerned look, "But for this, I couldn't imagine doing it without either of you." She smiled and took both of their hands. "Annie is right. We are going to get through this. But only if we stick together."

Jack rolled his eyes, "I feel like the three musketeers."

"You know Raliana said that she meet them one time. They were not all they are cracked up to be. If one of them was given a chance to save their own skin they would betray the others without a second thought."

"Thank you Fiona," Jack's voice was full of sarcasm. "Just destroy my childhood fantasy why don't you."

"Sorry," she shrugged.

"Well why don't we go talk to Raliana some more about Avalon and the times before the Gathering," Annie suggested to them. "We deserve to know everything."

"That sounds like a plan but can we do this later," Fi plead. "There is someone I have to go talk to."

Jack smiled at her, "Go on and talk to Carey, this can wait. Oh he might think that you are trying to go after that Hugh guy."

"Jack how many times do I have to tell you," Fi started to say then she fully understood what he had said. "Jack what did you just say?"

"Just that you really seemed to dig Hugh person," Jack did not understand what she was getting at.

Fi gave him an angry look, "Except you didn't know what his name was because he never told us. That's why I had to go after him, to find out his name."

"Um," Jack started to get nervous. "Carey told me, yeah. Come on Annie, let's get out of here," Jack grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her with him as he started to make a break for it.

"Jack Phillips!" Fi called after him.

"Oh, by the way Fi. I promise I won't kill Carey cause he kissed you," Jack called over his shoulder and then he and Annie disappeared.

"This is just great," Fi huffed. "I can't believe this is happening." She looked around the empty area of the arena. There was nothing fun to do here and she was starting to get bored witless. Maybe she should go talk to Carey, they never did have a chance to talk since Chicago. She was always putting him off because she had been busy helping Rye and Puck with training Jack and Annie. Now though she did not have any excuse. She was getting these strange vibes from Hugh. There was something about him, she just could not put her finger on it, but that was no excuse to not talk to Carey.

"Fi," she heard Carey call out to her and she turned to look at him. "Hey, I have been looking all over for you."

"Hey Carey," she smiled at him. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah actually that's why I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about that new roadie my dad hired, Hugh," Carey looked at her with apprehension.

Fi laughed at the expression on his face. "What about him?" she whispered pretending like they were telling secrets.

Carey gave her an exasperated look, "Fiona, I am serious. Look, I think you should stay away from him."

"What are you talking about," she was starting to angry again.

"I just get a bad feeling about him and we don't know that much about him," Carey tried to explain. "Just promise me that that you will stay away from him."

She shook her head at him, "You have no right to ask me to do that. You aren't my brother!"

"You're right. I am not your brother, but I am worried about you. You need to stay away from him," Carey tried to reason with her.

Fi could not believe what she was hearing, "If I want to talk to Hugh or go out with him I will and it is none of your business! What is your problem Carey Bell?" She looked at him disgust and then walked away from him.

"Dat is waat scon are countin' on Fiona," a grin crossed Carey's features as Fi went into the venue. "Dat is exectly waat scon are countin' on," his started to glow green and he let out a small chuckle.

**Author's Note**: This is the first So Weird fan fiction that I have written. I hope everyone likes it. I will try to update as much as possible, but just to warn you, I am slow writer and I am working three different stories right now. There is one trick into getting me to write fast though. Feedback, I live on it. Feedback is a drug for me. Hope to give you more to read soon! Oh yeah, English is not my first language so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes. If you don't understand the Irish dialect let me know and I will stop using it, I used this translator so it might not be perfect.

Updates show up here faster: http://members.fortunecity.com/annabellefic/


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